


Playing With Fire

by marvelsquake



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Season/Series 04, Unplanned Pregnancy, watchdogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:01:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 68,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24241723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelsquake/pseuds/marvelsquake
Summary: Not wanting to be responsible for more hurt, Daisy left everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. and moved to L.A. to finally put a stop to the Watchdogs. She soon finds a partner in crime in Robbie Reyes aka the Ghost Rider. What first starts out as a partnership quickly turns into more...Kind of starts out like the beginning of season 4 but quickly diverges from canon.FINAL CHAPTER
Relationships: Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie/Yo Yo Rodriguez, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons, Phil Coulson/Melinda May, Robbie Reyes & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Robbie Reyes/Skye | Daisy Johnson
Comments: 99
Kudos: 133





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, like it said in the summary this is kind of AU as it doesn't have the whole Darkhold and (evil) uncle Eli storyline (he's only ever mentioned briefly) and it quickly diverges from canon. I hope you enjoy! I've already written a bunch of chapters so there will be frequent uploads!

Daisy looked up at the sky. The light pollution of LA took away the view of the distant stars, but it still made her feel the same that it always did: small, insignificant but somehow quite safe. Robbie was sitting next to her on the hood of his car. She couldn’t believe he even allowed her sitting on his precious Lucy, “ _Weird self healing car_ ” she thought and closed her eyes for a moment when a strand of hair brushed her face in a gentle breeze.

She felt a silent nudge against her arm and opened her eyes again, she took the bottle of scotch Robbie offered. Lazily bringing the bottle to her lips, she glanced at Robbie, their eyes briefly meeting. She took a swig and felt the comforting heat burn her throat.

She had told herself, rationalized, that no, she could _not_ get attached; she just needed a partner in her fight against the Watchdogs. He was the Ghost Rider, not someone you’d get close to. She gave him back the bottle. Yes, his eyes were so deep... and almost golden reflected in the streetlights, but he was a walking, talking _hell demon_. She did have to admit it was nice to be able to talk to someone again. Life as a vigilante was quite lonely and she had underestimated how hard it was without having a team to back her up. But that was the past; she couldn’t love or let someone love her for their sake. So Robbie, with all his darkness, felt safe. 

She leaned back on the hood of his precious Lucy, when he quietly held out the bottle to her, revealing his triceps through his shirt. Internally, she shook her head and took a large sip that felt like it went through her whole body, and shuddered.

Robbie leaned back against the windshield with his hand behind his head, taking the bottle with his other hand for a quick sip.

“Have you always lived, here?” Daisy eventually asked, breaking the silence.

Robbie nodded, “Yeah.”

Daisy slowly nodded too, taking the bottle back from him to take another sip.

“How about you? I know you’re not from here.”

Daisy raised her eyebrows, “How can you tell?”

Robbie smiled, “You don’t have that L.A. vibe.”

Daisy huffed and peeled away at the label of the bottle in her hands, “I’m a foster kid, always been bounced around so I’m from everywhere and nowhere I guess.”

Robbie blinked, “That’s _rough_. So no parents?”

Daisy shook her head, “Nope.”

Robbie slowly nodded “Me neither, not anymore, just Gabe and I.”

They got both briefly distracted by a loud ambulance driving past a street down and fell back into a comfortable silence.

“I _was_ born in China, though.” Daisy said with a faint smile.

Robbie cocked an eyebrow, “Really?” and leaned his head into his hand. Daisy hummed. She knew he was staring at her, curious, but she had no intention on divulging him with her story. No sob stories about her childhood, no rising tide, no S.H.I.E.L.D., no finding her parents and certainly no Lincoln. She swallowed but the sudden lump in her throat didn’t budge. Robbie had probably noticed she didn’t want to elaborate any further as he had brought his attention back on the view in front.

“You’re different you know.” He muttered.

“Different how?”

Robbie smirked, “Well first of all, the powers.” As he made an attempt to copy her ‘quake’ hand gesture.

She chuckled, “Okay, sure.” Daisy noticed he was starting to loosen up a little bit after of few sips of that whiskey, and maybe she was feeling it too.

“But also,” He said, squinting a bit “you weren’t scared.”

She smirked, “You think a little fire is gonna scare me?”

“A little fire? I’ve seen myself,” he huffed “a skull on fire, that’s scary.”

Daisy shrugged playfully, “Nah, not that scary. I’ve seen puppets dressed up in haunted houses that are more scary.”

Robbie shook his head and took another sip, “You’re a mystery.”

Daisy fell silent, “Don’t try and solve me, though.” She quietly muttered under her breath.

Robbie titled his head to the side; she was staring at her hands, fidgeting with her chipped nail polish. Her make-up was dark and her shoulder length hair fell like a curtain down her face. She was obviously going through some stuff but as long as he didn’t ask too much of her, she wouldn’t ask them of him either, and that was more than fine to him.

A tear had escaped and fell down her face, she tried to quickly wipe it away with her sleeve before he could see it, but she was too slow and her cheek was already stained by it, leaving a smudged trail.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked, immediately chastising himself in his mind for breaking his own rules. Don’t get too close; you’re on a mission. No matter how mysterious her eyes are and how charming the corners of her mouth when she smiles sarcastically.

Daisy let herself slide off the hood of the charger and nodded, “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I’m gonna head back.”

“It’s late though, you can crash on the couch if you want?” as he gestured to his house behind him. Daisy shook her head, she hated he saw her vulnerable like that. It was the last thing she wanted of their anti-Watchdogs partnership.

Robbie slid off the hood too; reaching for her arm, “Let me at least drive you home.”

Daisy frowned, ignoring his warm fingers on her arm, “You’ve been drinking, Robbie.”

He shrugged, “Lucy does most of the driving anyway.”

“No, thank you, Knight Rider, I’m okay.” She answered him sarcastically.

Robbie shook his head, “Okay, let me get your jacket from the trunk,” he said with a sigh and walked to the back of his car, popping the trunk. He blindly reached for the jacket in the dark before he felt the smooth leather under his fingertips and grabbed it. “There you go - oh whoa, sorry.” He exclaimed as he had bumped into her.

“Oh,” she breathed out, “Thanks...”, taking the leather jacket from him. With her hands tingling from the scotch, she unsuccessfully tried to put on her jacket, all the while painfully aware of his body so close to hers. Robbie noticed he was holding his breath, and quietly exhaled. He had somehow not backed away, yet. It’s not that he couldn’t.... he just didn’t.  
  
Daisy felt Robbie’s heat radiate from him, and slowly she looked up. He was taller than she was - “ _about as tall as Lincoln_ ” she thought, shaking her head to rid herself of those thoughts. Looking down at her feet to regain her composure, she realized their arms were touching. She had to admit it was nice to be touched again, even though it was a shirt clad arm against her bare one. She looked up at him, his eyes shone like honey in the dim streetlights and it reminded her of the whiskey bottle they had both just finished.

Robbie opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came to mind. He studied the lines of her face, her lips, her nose, and the little frown between her brows. With all that had happened, he did not yet take the time to fully notice how beautiful she was.

Daisy’s eyes wandered over his face, then his broad chest and his shoulders. He looked strong and warm, and when her eyes had found his lower arm still touching hers, he noticed and gently stroked her arm once with his hand. The space between their bodies grew smaller until there was only a sliver of light separating them.

Daisy could swear he could hear her rampant heartbeat, and she found the courage to look back up. After what seemed like forever, their eyes locked. A tiny gasp of air escaped Daisy’s mouth when Robbie slowly leaned down. She could feel his nose touch hers before he retreated abruptly.

“I’m sorry,” he said hoarsely.

Daisy looked at him, at his remorseful frown, and shook her head, only a little surprised at how right this felt. “No, it’s okay,” she whispered.

With his left hand, Robbie tucked her hair behind her ear. Tracing his jaw with her fingertips, Daisy pulled him closer. This was stupid, impulsive, maddening even, but every trace of guilt evaporated when she brushed his lips with hers. His mouth tasted sweet and a little smoky, and the lump in her throat eased away with every second of melting away in their kiss.

Her leather jacket dropped from her hand and she was now free to cup his face on both sides. Robbie had held back until then, but he shut the trunk of the Charger forcefully and hastily picked her up to put her on top of it. Standing in between her legs, he looked up and was met with wild sparkling eyes. Daisy pulled him closer by his shirt and found his hungry mouth. Their kiss deepened and was not slowed down in the slightest when Robbie nearly tripped over Daisy’s leather jacket.

“Hmm, just kick it away.” Daisy mumbled indifferently in between trailing Robbie’s neck with fiery kisses, and when she returned to his impatient lips, she could feel him smiling.

After what was an indistinct amount of time, Robbie reluctantly let go off their kiss to catch his breath, and asked “Is this okay?” carefully touching her lip that was still cut from a fight a few days earlier.

Drunk on lust and scotch, Daisy nodded. “Yeah, yeah,” she breathed impatiently and pressed her tingly lips on his. Robbie, in a not much clearer state of mind, suppressed a moan when her eager hands ran through his hair and she whispered, her voice low and hoarse, “Let’s move this inside. Don’t want the neighbors to see.”

Robbie nodded, “Let’s go,” as he took her hand in his and led her to the front door, fumbling with the keys from his back pocket

“Wait,” she said breathlessly, “what about your brother?”

Robbie shook his head, as he finally was able to open the door to his house, “He’s staying over at some friend’s house.”

He swiftly picked her up and she let out a yelp, “Don’t you dare scorch me.” She berated him.

“I thought a little fire didn’t scare you.”


	2. Chapter 2

Daisy slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the direct sunlight escaping through the curtains and hitting her right in the eyes. Her cheek was mushed into Robbie’s bicep and she huffed. Her dark make-up had left a big stain on his skin, almost creating a print of her face in make-up. She shook her head. The aftertaste of the scotch was still lingering in the back of her throat and her head was pounding. “Great.” she muttered to herself as the faint memories of that night came back to her. Robbie was still asleep, silently snoring. She couldn’t help but chuckle at how ridiculous he looked, the ‘oh so scary’ Ghost Rider sleeping open mouthed with some spittle down his cheek. He was looking nice though, finally being able to admire his physique in the daylight without it being covered up by a hoody and jacket. She slowly sat up, carefully moving his arm as she did not want to wake him and then realized just how very naked she actually was when she found her reflection in the mirror. She looked around the room, trying to spot her clothing that were scattered all over.

“ _Buenos dias.._.” Robbie said hoarsely as he rubbed his face with his free hand. Daisy jumped a little, suddenly feeling very exposed and grabbed some of the blanket to shield her naked chest.

“ _Hey_ … good morning.” she answered him awkwardly, brushing a hand through her tangled hair.

“Did you sleep well?” He asked, feeling the awkward tension himself. Daisy smiled, “Yeah… this was err, nice.” Truth to be told, Daisy hadn’t slept this great in ages, and truly felt rested for once.

“Good.” He answered simply, he let his head fall to the side to look at his alarm clock, 8:00am. “You want to get some breakfast or something?”

Daisy shook her head, slowly scooting down the end of the bed to retrieve her panty’s from the floor and got herself dressed. “No, I think I am just gonna go.”

Robbie propped himself up, “You sure? I don't mind.”

Daisy hummed, finally finding her bra on the lampshade, “Yeah.”

“I feel like… did I got too far, last night?” Robbie confessed as he watched her putting on her faded black jeans.

Daisy turned around, “Don’t worry! We were both consenting adults with a little too much to drink.” She assured him.

Robbie studied her; she looked a little more relaxed and not as weighed down as normal. “Okay, good.” And gave her a nod “Am I gonna see you tonight?”

Daisy pulled her shirt over her head, still searching for her leather jacket. “Hmm… Yeah. But for the Watchdogs, not this.” As she gestured at him on the bed. “This was a one time thing.”

Robbie leaned over, rubbing his face with both his hands, “Okay, sure.” And nodded, “Don’t wanna mix work with pleasure.”

Daisy nodded in agreement, padding down her jeans pockets to look for her phone, suddenly realizing her jacket containing all her possessions was probably still outside kicked under Robbie’s car.

“Gotta go.” she said with a shy smile. He looked so boy-ish propped up in bed, one eye closed and his hair sticking up, and she had to resist the urge to kiss him goodbye.

“Bye.” Robbie answered, and watched her leave through the bedroom door before letting himself fall backwards into bed.

Daisy closed the bedroom door behind her and jumped as she heard Gabe enter the house and turned around, he looked at her and then slowly shook his head with a smirk, “Found this in the yard next to an empty bottle of scotch.” And held up Daisy’s trusty leather jacket.

Daisy cleared her throat, “Err, thank you.” She felt like a caught teenager and walked towards him, taking the jacket from Robbie's baby brother and quickly checking if her phone and keys were still pocketed.

“Well, bye, Gabe.” She said awkwardly, reaching out for the knob on the front door.

“Wait, you still got some make-up… well everywhere.”

Daisy looked at herself in the reflection of the mirror beside the coat rack and grunted, taking the back of her sleeve and rubbing underneath her eyes to at least make it look a little more presentable, well until she could head back to her place and take a shower.

“Thanks.” She said exasperated, wanting nothing more than to get out and take a nice big breath of fresh air, and left.

* * *

**Two months later**

Daisy greeted the bus driver with a nod and sat down in one of the empty seats. She pulled the hood of her hoody up and leaned her head against the window, closing her eyes. She hadn’t taken this particular trip in a while, not since she had bailed on Robbie and their little _arrangement._ God, she had never intended for their one-night stand to become a full-fletched friends-with-benefits thing, but the adrenaline rush of fighting alongside each other and taking out as many as they could, always resulted in falling into bed with each other and it had become almost part of the ritual. With every morning she would stay a little longer, first it was just to drink a cup of coffee, then to also to take a quick shower, then it became a bowl of cereal and later just a complete breakfast before returning to her place just before noon. Daisy opened one eye and saw the bus was close to her stop, she swallowed the bile rising in her throat down and pushed the button so the bus driver knew when to stop for her.

It was only a short walk from the bus stop to where Robbie lived, and she halted in front of his house. God _,_ she felt stupid, just staring at the porch of his place, nervously fiddling with the zipper on her jacket. She had considered not even going to him, telling him, but she knew it wasn’t fair to Robbie. He had a right to know and she secretly hoped he would have an answer to this constantly burning question deep in the pit of her stomach.

Daisy jumped as suddenly the front door opened with a bang, and a pretty pissed looking Robbie was staring at her, “Were you just gonna stand there all day or actually ring the bell?” he asked annoyed.

Oh, he’s really pissed. Why did she even go back? She should’ve just go and deal with it on her own. Daisy sighed, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come.” And quickly turned around. It was better this way anyway, right? Being on her own, that was the plan from the start.

Robbie clenched his fists as he saw her turn around and walk away, he shook his head scolding at himself that he’d even care. “Wait, hold on, you can’t just leave.” Robbie called after her, jogging behind her before he could catch up. “Why are you back? You’ve been gone for weeks without any notice and now you’re back. Why?”

Daisy scratched her eyebrow, she felt herself getting angry even though rationally she knew he was in the right. “You said you loved me.” Daisy blurted and turned around so she’d face him. Oh that’s not how she wanted to start this, at all.

“ _What_. No, I didn’t.” Robbie answered confused. Folding his arms in front of his chest.

“Yes, you did.”

“When?”

“We were in bed.”

Robbie looked at her, squinting, his brain working a hundred miles per hour trying to recall when he could’ve said it. “Okay, so you ran because I told you I… I loved you. Was I asleep, or falling asleep or something?”

“ _Yes_ , Robbie!” she exclaimed, “And that wasn’t the plan! You were never supposed to be in love with me. I am Quake, you are the Ghost Rider we were supposed to be a team taking down those Watchdogs and then… _celebrate_. But we were never supposed to be… you had no right… You can’t love me Robbie!” She ranted.

“ _Dios mío,_ Daisy! I am sorry! I didn’t know you had a so-called _plan_! You have never told me the exact rules of whatever you thought we had, I thought we had fun together!” Robbie retorted as he rubbed his face. “Can’t I care about you?”

“You just can’t, Robbie.” She said, almost whispering as she stared at her feet, “Wherever I go, death follows.”

“I don’t know if you’ve seen me lately but I am pretty much death personified.” Robbie said annoyed.

Daisy sighed, he was right. She knew he was right, but those three words had really spooked her to the core like no hellfire demon could.

“Why are you back, Daisy?” Robbie repeated his prior question.

Daisy quickly wiped the tear that was running down her face with the back of her sleeve and took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”

Robbie looked at her gob smacked, “Wait, _what_.” Robbie hissed, completely stunned.

“I took the test a few days ago.”

Robbie felt as if a rug was pulled from under his feet, his mouth went dry and he was suddenly very aware of how this conversation was taking place in his front lawn.

Robbie swallowed, “Let’s move this inside, okay?”

Daisy nodded, as she quickly followed him into the house and sat herself down onto the couch with her heart beating in her throat. Robbie had started to pace, trying to make sense of it all. “How did this happen?”

Daisy rolled her eyes, “You know how this happens, I know you dropped out of high school but – “

“This is not funny, Daisy. We used a condom every time.”

“Well what can I say demon boy, maybe you burned through them, I don’t know!” she exclaimed.

“Okay, okay,” Robbie, said as he tried to calm himself down, knowing that yelling at each other won't get them anywhere, “You’re sure it’s mine?”

Daisy looked at him hurt, “Of course it’s yours!”

“Well I am sorry Daisy, but how should I know? I don’t actually know who you are! We spent days together, nights together, but you’ve never told me anything about you. Not where you’ve come from, who has hurt you, what you did, and who that blonde dude is in that picture you carry around in your notebook.” Oh, he didn’t mean to make him sound so jealous there.

Daisy swallowed, “He’s… he was my boyfriend. He’s dead.” Not wanting to elaborate on the circumstances of Lincoln’s death.

Robbie stared at her, slowly nodded and sat down on the chair in front of her, “I’m sorry.” and rubbed his face.

Daisy shook her head, “It’s okay.” She murmured.

They sat in front of each other in silence, which felt like an eternity, “So what do you want to do?” Robbie eventually asked.

“I…” Daisy uttered before falling silent again, “I’m keeping it.”

Robbie took a deep breath and nodded, “Okay… I thought maybe because everything that’s going on right now you wouldn’t, not that I am judging just…”

Daisy nodded, “I really wasn’t planning on keeping it, I even… well I made the appointment at the clinic as soon as I found out. But something changed inside of me,”

“What did?” Robbie said curiously, breathing out.

She faintly smiled, “I tripped.”

Robbie frowned, “You _tripped_?”

She nodded, “I tripped because of a crack in the pavement, fell pretty hard and my first thought was that I was afraid I lost the baby, it was like this sudden realization that I would do anything for that little ball of cells. And I can’t give it up for adoption, that’s just… I can’t have it grow in the foster system like I had to endure. I won’t do that to the kid.”

Daisy looked at Robbie’s face, he was clearly processing it all, deep lines formed in his forehead. “I know it is stupid, completely reckless and dangerous while I am being wanted by not only the government but also the Watchdogs. But I am gonna do this Robbie.”

Robbie somehow had momentarily forgotten that the girl in front of him was a wanted fugitive that was known to the world as the ever-destructive Quake.

“So you’re saying that…”

“I am saying that if I don’t miscarry or anything… there’s gonna be a baby in a few months.”

Robbie slowly nodded, “Wow, okay. A baby.”

“Yeah.”

Robbie stared outside the window, trying to make sense of the situation, before returning his attention back to her.

“How are you feeling?” Robbie asked, softly. Suddenly noticing how sick Daisy looked, her skin was even more pale and the bags under her eyes couldn’t even be hidden by her dark make-up anymore.

She shrugged, “Pretty nauseous, honestly. Tired. I’ve been throwing up, a lot.”

Robbie nodded slowly. “That must be rough... Can I get you some water?”

Daisy softly smiled, even when he was pissed off, he was caring towards her. “Yeah, thanks.”

Robbie nodded and stood up and walked to the kitchen to get her a bottle of water from the fridge. He turned around, and deep in thought unscrewed the cap for her and handed her the cool water bottle.

Daisy took the bottle gratefully from Robbie and took a swig, suddenly noticing how dry her throat actually was and sat it back on the coffee table.

“Do you maybe… wanna see the test?”

Robbie who had sat down again looked up as Daisy was reaching into the inner pocket of her leather jacket “It’s maybe a little gross, I did pee on it, but here it is.”

Robbie took it from her, fascinated. it was a simple pregnancy test wrapped in tissue paper that just said ‘pregnant’ on its tiny display. But it suddenly made it so much more real. “Do you know how far along you are?”

Daisy shrugged, “I haven’t been to the doctor’s yet or anything, but I did some research online and they say they start counting the weeks from the last day of your period.”

“So?”

“I think I am about two months. Maybe more, maybe less I can’t be sure. My period hasn’t been regular for a while now.”

He slowly nodded, “That checks out I guess, that’s when we first…”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “But Robbie,” Daisy said, scooting forward so she could rest her hand on his knee “The reason I came back was because… I wanted to know if you want to be involved, I felt like you deserved to know. It’s not going to be easy. It’s up to you.”

Robbie looked up from the white stick in his hands and into her brown eyes, “How are we even gonna raise a kid with you wanted?”

Daisy shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“What if something happens to you or the baby?”

“I don’t know, Robbie.”

Robbie rubbed his face, “Okay.” And released a large breath.

“Okay?”

“I am in.”

“Just like that?”

“No, not just like that.”

Daisy looked at him confused.

“I am in, but I want to make something very clear. We will do this as a partnership. I can’t have you run away, Daisy. Not again.”

Daisy swallowed, “I can agree to that.”

Robbie put the test onto the coffee table and nodded, “Okay, and I want to you to move in.”

Daisy frowned, “What? No I don’t think that is necessary.”

“Look, we don’t even have to share a bed or anything like that. But we need to be together to do this properly. I need to be able to protect you… both, I need to -”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yes.”

Robbie thought he had more convincing to do but apparently not, “Good.”

“So what are we?” Daisy asked.

“Let’s… not give it a name. It’s just us.”

“Okay.” She agreed.

Silence grew between them as they were processing the new situation, “I’m so scared, Robbie.” Daisy whisperingly confessed, finally breaking the silence.

“Me, too.” Robbie answered truthfully, “Can’t say I have much experience with kids… or a good role model to have learned it from.”

Daisy thought of the mother figures in her life, the nuns and foster mothers she had weren’t great, her _own_ mom had tried to kill her and well… May was the only one closest to fulfilling that role in her life and she probably didn’t want to have anything to do with her anymore the way she had left S.H.I.E.L.D.

“We’ll figure it out together.”

“As a team.”

“No more running away.”

Daisy nodded, “No more running away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you guys are enjoying the story because I sure love writing it! I am going to upload every other day from now on so be sure to check regularly! I am looking forward to your comments, English isn't my first language so I apologize for any mistakes, have a great day!


	3. Chapter 3

Robbie was lying on his back in bed, staring above him he could make out the little bumps and imperfections on the ceiling that were illuminated by the bright moonlight shining through the half opened curtains. He hadn’t really been able to sleep these last few days, he was still pretty pissed at Daisy for leaving without any notice but he couldn’t deny he was happy she was back in his life, even though it had become a lot more complicated.

Robbie could hear the creaking of his bedroom door, and smiled to himself. Daisy had made a habit of going into his room in the middle of the night since she moved in, and joining him into his bed. It wasn’t even sexual or anything, she was probably just seeking comfort and was in denial about their whole situation. Robbie had already pulled his blanket to the side as Daisy stepped in and scooted closer, resting her face on her favorite spot on his chest en let out a sigh. They’d rarely talk when she snuck in, sometimes a whispered “Goodnight.” but she pretty much fell asleep instantly.

Robbie felt her breathing even out as she slowly drifted off. It comforted him seeing her so peaceful and gently brushed some of her hair from her face before staring back at the ceiling. He knew it was reckless, dangerous and how stupid it was, but somehow he just didn’t care. Robbie let out a deep sigh and slowly felt himself drift off to sleep with the girl he loved on his heart.

* * *

Daisy was always the first one to get out of bed, he suspected she wanted to get out of his room before Gabe would notice she had slept in his room _again,_ but he knew there was no use of confronting her with it, plus he liked seeing her wake up and do her little morning routine before stepping into the shower.

“Wow.” Robbie said hoarsely from sleep, as he looked at Daisy fastening her hair, making her shirt creep up.

“What?” Daisy asked as she turned around, pulling her shoulder length hair up in a messy bun.

“You’re already showing a bit.”

“What? No.” she said as she shook her head, turning to the mirror.

“Yes you are, look it’s small but it’s there.”

Daisy pulled her shirt up and moved to the side, staring at her reflection. “I think I am just gaining some weight from eating all your taco’s.”

Robbie smirked, “Whatever you say.”

Daisy frowned at her reflection again and used her hand to trace the subtle swell beneath her belly button, pushing her sleep shorts down lower to get a better sight, “Wow, maybe you’re right.”

Robbie smiled, “You look cute.”

Daisy huffed, “It just looks like I’ve eaten a big lunch.”

“Still cute.”

Daisy shook her head but kept staring at her reflection, her heart was racing. Seeing herself with an actual bump, no matter how small it still was, made it all so much more real.

“How long do you think I’ll be able to hide it?”

Robbie shrugged, “I have no idea, probably not too long before Gabe notices.”

Daisy nodded, lowering her shirt. “You can’t tell him yet, though.”

“I know, I know, don’t worry.”

She took a deep breath, “Thanks, I’m gonna take a shower.”

Robbie nodded, “Alright I am gonna make some coffee. “

* * *

Robbie had put on his bathrobe and shuffled towards the kitchen, Gabe was already eating breakfast while scrolling on his phone. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Gabe answered without looking up from his phone.

Robbie nodded and started filling the coffeemaker with water, pouring the coffee grinds into the filter, toggling it on and seeing the brown liquid slowly starting to drip. He stared out of the window; the streets were still fairly quiet with only some cars driving by and neighbors walking their dogs. He turned around again as he heard the coffee maker stop brewing and poured coffee into two mugs and handed his brother one.

“Thanks.” Gabe said as he stuffed his lunch into his backpack and put the mug on the counter so it could cool off. He looked up as he heard the door between the bathroom and Robbie’s open and close. “So for how long is your girlfriend actually staying?”

Robbie huffed, “She’s not my girlfriend, and she doesn’t have a place to stay so I let her crash in our spare room.”

Gabe cocked an eyebrow at Robbie and then shook his head “Okay, sure.” And took the mug from the counter to take a careful sip.

“I am serious. She just needed a place to crash.”

Gabe smirked, “You guys are the most committed uncommitted people I’ve ever known.”

“Shut up.” Robbie said and threw a dishcloth at him.

Gabe chuckled, “It’s fine, I like her. Hope she doesn’t bail on you again though, you were pretty miserable those weeks.”

“Why are you so invested in my love life anyway, don’t you have your own to concern yourself with.”

“Yours is just way more entertaining”

Robbie shook his head.

Daisy walked into the kitchen, her hair still damp from showering and pushed the button of the kettle for some tea before sitting down on one of the barstools. “Morning, Gabe.” She said with a bit of a forced smile. Still feeling awkward that she was taking residence at their place.

Gabe gave her a nod, “Morning,” as he put back his empty mug and zipped up his backpack “Well I gotta go. I’ll be home late, gonna study with some friends and have pizza.”

“Bye!” both said in unison as Gabe turned around in his wheelchair towards the front door “Oh and by the way, congrats on the baby.”

Daisy whipped her head towards Robbie who mouthed, “ _I haven’t told him anything”_.

Gabe turned around and smirked, “I think you guys forgot that the bathroom is right next to my bedroom and you have been puking _a lot_ these couple of days.”

Daisy looked mortified but didn’t say a word.

Robbie walked towards his brother and put a hand on his shoulder “I would appreciate if you didn’t tell anyone about this. It’s still early and we want to keep it under wraps.”

Gabe nodded, “Sure, I won’t tell. But please remember the walls are thin around here so…”

Robbie gave Gabe a playful push, “Go to school, nerd.”

“Sure, drop-out.” And wheeled himself out of the house and Robbie closed the front door behind him.

Daisy let out an exasperated sigh, “Well that’s just great.”

Robbie shrugged as he walked back to her, “He’d find out sooner or later.”

“I know,” Daisy sighed. “I would’ve liked to keep it between us two for a while, though.”

“He’s a smartass. But I trust him.”

Daisy let out a deep breath, “Okay.”

“How are you feeling?”

Daisy sat up more straight, “Nauseous, tired, the whole shebang.”

“Can I get you something to eat?”

Daisy smiled, “Thanks, yeah. Some dry toast, please.”

Robbie nodded and put two slices of bread in the toaster, “So what are your plans today?”

Daisy shrugged, “Doing some research, maybe, I’m not sure. There’s so much information about baby’s out there it’s quite daunting. You?” and scrunched her nose, thinking of all the mommy blogs she had already looked through.

Robbie pulled the warm slices of toast from the toaster and handed it to Daisy on a plate, “Gotta go to work at the garage for a while. Being the Ghost Rider doesn’t actually pay the bills.”

Daisy munched on her toast and nodded, “This is weird, isn’t it?”

Robbie smiled, “Yeah, pretty weird. I have no idea what you would do after you’d leave in the morning, you know before…”

Daisy hummed, “Mostly tracking down Watchdogs and finding out about their locations. Those kind of things.”

“Well, I guess that’s over.” Robbie answered, pouring some milk in a bowl for his cereal.

Daisy looked puzzled, “Why?”

Robbie frowned, “Why? Because you’re, I don’t know, pregnant?”

Daisy sat up straight, feeling irritation bubbling up. “So? Doesn’t mean we can’t continue fighting for what’s right.”

“Daisy…” Robbie said, dropping his spoon in his bowl “You can’t expect to go on like before, it’s way too dangerous.”

“Robbie, they’re still out there. We can’t just stop. I still have my powers to protect myself.”

“What if they hurt you and… And then what?”

“They won’t hurt me, they haven’t even come close, yet.”

“ _Yet_.” Robbie repeated.

They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.

Daisy took a deep breath, “Look, I am not that crazy that I am going to put myself in direct combat. But we can’t stop, Robbie. They’re killing Inhumans, people like me, people like… our future kid. They can’t grow up in a world where they have to hide their true self or even worse get hunted for it.”

Robbie rubbed the back of his neck, “Okay, but how do you propose we are gonna do this?”

Daisy shrugged, “Maybe I can focus on finding them using my computer and you’ll… check them out. Go all fire demon on them, since you know… you can’t die.”

Robbie stared at her; he still had this gnawing sensation deep down that this really wasn’t safe, “Can we talk about this after I come home from work?”

Daisy sighed, “Yeah, okay.”

Robbie gave her a nod and walked towards his bedroom to quickly shower and change so he could be at least a little on time at the garage.

* * *

Robbie was holding on so tightly to his steering wheel that it made his knuckles turn white. He had been thinking all day about Daisy’s new proposal, and it just didn’t sit right with him. His friends and colleagues had teased him for being so absentminded but he couldn’t help but have his mind drift off to his home situation. Luckily he could hide beneath cars all day so he didn’t have to deal with people. There was so much to process since Daisy dropped the pregnancy bomb on him that the idea of his child being an inhuman hadn’t even really dawned on him yet, not actively at least. And it had suddenly scared him.

Before he knew it, Robbie had already arrived home and drove his car into the parking spot in front of his house. He sighed as he took out the keys of the ignition. He still didn’t really know on what he was going to say to her, so he hoped it would come to him when they were actually discussing it, at least he hoped so.

* * *

“Now I just need to think of a name…” Daisy thought out loud, tapping with her fingers on her laptop. Robbie walked into the house, dropping his keys and hanging his jacket on the coat rack. “A name? For the baby, already?”

Daisy chuckled, “No, for me.” And looked behind her, seeing Robbie slowly approaching where she was sitting on the breakfast table with her computer.

“For you?”

“Yeah, I am creating a fake identity so I can go to an OB/GYN.”

Robbie slowly nodded, “Yeah, didn’t even think of that.”

Daisy nodded too, “Have to careful, pretty sure I am being monitored everywhere.”

“Maybe you can go with another flower name, like err… Lilly or Rose?”

Daisy chuckled, “No, it’s better to go with something common like Jessica or Emma.”

“That’s a shame, Tulip suits you.”

“Tulip? Who the hell is named Tulip!” She exclaimed, turning around so she could face him.

Robbie shrugged, “Maybe some Dutch people, I don’t know.”

Daisy shook her head and focused back on her computer, typing in some random name and pressing enter. “This will do.” She said under her breath and closed the laptop shut.

“So I wanted to ask you if you’d maybe… want to come with?” Daisy asked suddenly a bit more shy, folding her arms in front of her

Robbie softly smiled, “Yeah, err of course, we’re a team right. Do I need a fake ID too?”

Daisy shook her head, “No, they don’t ask the dad’s names anyway.”

Robbie gasped.

“What?”

“Dad. I am gonna be a _dad_.”

“You just figured this out?” Daisy chuckled.

“Hey don’t make fun, you’re gonna be a _mom_.”

Daisy’s eyes grew big, “Okay, yeah it’s weird when you say it out loud.”

Robbie shook his head and sat on the edge of the table, wanting to get the discussion from that morning to get over with. “Daisy, I’ve been thinking about this all day and I am just not… I am still afraid if we continue to fight those Watchdogs we are going to bring a whole lot of trouble onto ourselves, even if you’re not in the field. I just… it doesn’t sit right with me.”

Daisy took a deep breath, “You were fine with it before all of this.”

“There’s just a lot more at stake.” As his eyes wandered to her still nearly invisible bump.

“I know that Robbie, but I can’t just watch idly by. We need to do something. They’re my people, I feel… responsible.”

“Why don’t we let the government agencies deal with it?”

“You know damn well they don’t even have a grasp on how far and wide spread it is, and the center of it all is right here in Los Angeles. They’re over there looking in Florida.”

Robbie sighed, he knew she made sense. “Okay, we can try this thing out. But I don’t want you anywhere close to action. Promise me this.”

Daisy reached for his callused hand, squeezing it. “I promise.”

Robbie looked at their joined hands, it feeling somehow very intimate how her fingers were tangled with his, and rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand. Still with a sinking feeling in his gut. “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, commenting and giving me kudos on this story! I really appreciate that you guys are enjoying the story!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and welcome back. I can't believe season 7 is almost here! I am still hoping Robbie will return but I know the chances are very slim, lol. Luckily there is fan fiction! This one is quite sweet but things will be gearing up for more action!

Daisy let out a grunt. She was hunched over the toilet and shaking, her legs and knees cold from sitting on the bathroom tiles. “I am so done feeling sick all the time.” And reached over to flush the toilet. Robbie nodded sympathetically, holding her shoulder length hair that was just long enough to be in the way whenever she had to throw up. “I’m sorry.” And handed her a damp towel and a glass of water, “According to the books this part will be over soon.”

Daisy sighed, peeling herself off the floor, “I sure hope so. I read about these women that are sick their whole pregnancy long. Can’t imagine how bad that must be.” And shuddered. She drank from the glass and gargled some of the water before spitting in the sink, trying to get rid of the nasty taste in her mouth.

“Well you have been throwing up less now, so it is kind of slowing down.”

Daisy nodded, “That’s true.” And turned around, still wobbly on her feet, Robbie held her up. Daisy let herself fall against his chest, taking in his scent that smelled of his after-shave and a bit of motor oil. It was comforting. Robbie stroked her hair, “You’re done?” Daisy slowly nodded, “Yeah, think I am all puked out.”

Robbie softly smiled as he held her, “Why don’t you take a shower, we still have two hours before we have to be at the hospital so take your time, I’ll make us some breakfast.”

Daisy sighed, “But please no pancakes, waffles, bacon or eggs or anything with a strong smell, please.” She said, “Everything is making me queasy.”

“Alright, just toast and tea?”

“Thank you.” She said as she sat on the edge of the bathtub. “I also tracked down some higher-ups in the Watchdogs this morning by scouring through some of the databases that-”

“Daisy please, can we focus on one thing at a time?” Robbie interjected.

Daisy blinked, combing her hand through her hair. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Robbie shook his head, “Okay, go take a shower and I’ll see you at the breakfast table”

* * *

Robbie put his hand on Daisy’s knee to stop the nervous tapping of her foot, “Calm down.” He said with a smile, not commanding but assuring,

Daisy faintly smiled back, “Sorry,” she whispered, “I am just,” as she looked around the room spotting every surveillance camera, “scared I am going to be spotted by someone.”

“Everyone here is minding their own business, don’t worry.”

Daisy let out a sigh, “Yeah, okay.” Planting her foot firmly on the ground. The waiting room at the OB/GYN was filled with expectant mothers and their respective partners. Some weren’t visibly pregnant like she was but others looked like that if they stood up too fast a kid was going to just pop out. There were small children playing in the toy corner, building with blocks and fiddling with Barbie’s dresses. There was a small two year old girl that stood out to her, she was cute with big brown eyes, two bouncy pigtails and had the same complexion as Robbie and she wondered if her kid was going to look like her if she had a daughter.

“I can’t imagine you with a big belly like that.” Robbie said softly. Not necessarily wanting the people next to them listening in. He put down one of the parenting magazines that were strewn about, that only reminded them on how much stuff they still had to get and how little time there actually was.

Daisy smirked, “I was just thinking the same.” As she instinctively put her hand on her tiny bump that only recently had shown itself.

“Jessica Charles?” A nurse called out, it took Daisy and Robbie a split second to register that it was Daisy they were calling.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Daisy replied and swiftly stood up, followed by Robbie as they were being brought to the doctor they had chosen. “You can sit here, Doctor Mallory will be here in a short while.”

Daisy nodded, “Thanks.” And sat down on one of the uncomfortable chairs, taking in the doctor’s office. It was pretty nicely decorated, lots of posters and children’s drawings. But it still had that clinical feel that put her a bit on edge. Robbie sat next to her, his foot was the one doing the tapping now and Daisy put her hand on his knee. Robbie chuckled, “Sorry.”

“Hi, Jessica? I am doctor Mallory, nice to meet you.” The doctor said. She was small in stature, dark-skinned with a bunch of curls that bounced on her shoulders. Daisy sat up to shake the woman’s hand, “Yes, that’s me. Nice to meet you too.”

“And this must be the father?” The doctor said with a smile as she stuck out her hand for Robbie too. Robbie nodded, “Yeah I’m Robbie… Gabriel. Robbie Gabriel.”

Daisy sighed, they had practiced his new name on the way over because he insisted that if she had a fake one he should have one too, just to be safe. At least half of it was fake now.

“I see you’re new here in Los Angeles?”

Daisy nodded, “Yeah, moved from New York.”

Doctor Mallory nodded looking at her chart, “Well the blood test revealed you are definitely pregnant, so congratulations!”

Daisy smiled, “Thank you, and yeah the morning sickness gave that away, I also did like five tests.”

Doctor Mallory smiled and sat down at her chair, “Well that confirms it then.” As she studied the chart a little longer before putting it down onto her desk. “So, first baby?”

They both nodded, “Yeah, we are quite nervous.”

Mallory smiled friendly, “Don’t be. It’s going to be great. Any pain? Discomforts? Spotting or bleeding?”

Daisy shook her head, “No, just the morning sickness that’s more like all day sickness, headaches and I am tired all the time.”

Doctor Mallory smiled empathetically, “Yeah, those are normal signs of the early stages of pregnancy, but you’re young and healthy according to your chart, so if you guys want to follow me we can do an ultrasound.”

Daisy suddenly felt her heart beating in her throat as she stood up feeling wobbly and followed the doctor towards the exam room that was only a door away from the office they were sitting at.

“Please sit down here, and dad you can sit next to her on the chair over there.”

Daisy and Robbie dutifully followed the doctor’s orders and sat down as doctor Mallory turned the ultrasound machine on and toggled some switches that Daisy had no idea what the use for is.

“Okay Jessica, If you’d like to scoot down on the table a little and pull your shirt up and unbutton your jeans we can see what is going on inside of you there.”

Daisy nodded and followed the doctor’s instructions and glanced at Robbie who sat nervously bend over with his elbows resting on his knees, staring at the still black screen of the monitor.

“Okay, so this is going to be a little cold,” the doctor said as she put some jelly on her naked belly,

Daisy shot up a little, “That’s a lot cold.” But soon got used to the feeling, warmed by her body temperature.

The doctor pushed the probe onto her belly and moved it around, staring at the screen next to her that Daisy only could describe as a grey mass. “Okay, so,” she said with a smile as she had stopped moving around and landed low beneath her belly button, “That’s your uterus and there… is your baby.” And tapped on the screen.

Daisy squinted, trying to distinguish the one grey blob from the other until the doctor zoomed in a little “That’s the head, you can see the outline of the nose, also there’s a hand and there’s a foot.” Doctor Mallory said in succession and tapped on the screen at the tiny flutter. “And there’s the heartbeat.”

Daisy’s eyes grew big, “That’s the baby?”

Doctor Mallory smiled, “Yeah, and for what I can measure your 9 week estimation wasn’t quite right, you’re more about twelve so not long before the second trimester!”

Daisy nodded, “Wow.” she said with a lump in her throat, her eyes shiny with tears.

“Wanna hear the heartbeat?”

Daisy nodded furiously, her eyes solely focused on the screen in front of her as the doctor pushed some of the buttons and suddenly the room was filled with a fast swooshing sound.

“Wow.” she heard Robbie say next to her as she tore her eyes away from the screen and at the man next to her, his eyes were filled with tears and his bottom lip was trembling a bit. She’s never seen him like this and it made her reach out for his hand that he gratefully took and squeezed it.

“So, it’s healthy right?” Robbie uttered.

“As far as I can see, it’s perfectly healthy. Nothing to worry.”

Robbie let out a big sigh of relief, “Good, good. That is good to hear.”

Doctor Mallory gave the couple a few minutes to be enamored with the new life growing inside Daisy before clearing her throat, “I’ll print you guys some pictures to take home with you and you can make a new appointment at he front desk with one of the nurses for your 20 week scan, okay?”

Daisy smiled, “Yes, thank you.” The doctor pushed some buttons and took the pictures that were slowly being printed on the side of the machine. “And if you feel like anything is off, don’t hesitate to call, okay? There are no dumb questions, it is always better to be safe than sorry.” And handed her a tissue to clean her belly with.

Daisy nodded as she cleaned herself up and lowered her shirt again and struggled to button her jeans, the sound of the quick heartbeat had regretfully been turned off and it made Daisy already miss it.

Doctor Mallory handed Robbie the string of pictures and shook both their hands with some more instructions before being led out of the examination room.

They walked to the front desk, made an appointment while still in a daze and made their way out of the OB/GYN wing of the hospital.

“Wow.” Daisy breathed out.

Robbie nodded, “Yeah, wow.” Taking a quick glance at the pictures in his hands before focusing on Daisy. “How are you feeling?” he asked as they walked out of the exit of the hospital.

“Overwhelmed,” she smiled “It’s still insane we are doing this…But I am… happy?” she said a little shy.

Robbie reached for her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Me too.”

They continued walking hand in hand until they reached the parking lot and Robbie’s trusted Charger. As Robbie fumbled with his keys he looked at Daisy staring at her feet, “You okay?”

Daisy looked up and smiled, “Yeah… just thank you for being there, for me and for us.”

Robbie nodded, “Thank you for returning, telling me.”

Daisy closed the gap between them and stood on her tippy toes to kiss him. Robbie was taken aback a little but let it happen; feeling the soft but firm press of her lips against his he folded her arms around her. They hadn’t actually kissed since she came back, not wanting to push boundaries but it felt so natural, so right. Daisy lowered herself again, her hand still resting on his chest. “Let’s go home.”

* * *

Robbie pulled one of the magnets off of the fridge, taking one of the sonogram pictures and with a smile clamped it secure.

Daisy smiled as she sat down at one of the breakfast barstools, “Cute.”

“I can’t believe how complete she already is, I was expecting some sort of blob but she has actual toes and a hand and you can clearly see the little nose.” He said as he traced the outline on the picture.

“ _She_? _”_ Daisy repeated with a smirk, “You think the baby is going to be a she?”

Robbie tore his eyes away from the picture and glanced at Daisy before turning his attention back on the sonogram picture, “She, he, I don’t know, but I am tired of calling her an it. Plus I have a feeling she’s going to be a she.”

Daisy absentmindedly started to rub her belly with her left hand as she popped a grape from the fruit bowl into her mouth. “Really?”

Robbie shrugged, leaning over the kitchen table, “Maybe wishful thinking? I just keep picturing like a tiny you and it’s so cute.”

Daisy smiled at him, he was such a softie with her, nothing like the gruff Robbie that he was with others. “Well he or she either way they’re totally your kid, fire demon junior is giving me serious heartburn.”

“I’ll get your ginger-ale.” Robbie said as he turned to the fridge where they stocked the beverage for this exact reason.

Daisy grabbed her closed laptop from where she had left it and opened it only to find several notifications of the feelers she had put out to find out where the head of the Watchdogs was, it hadn’t been fruitful… until today. “Robbie,” she gasped. “They’re here.”

Robbie turned around, putting the bottle of ginger-ale next to Daisy “Who is?”

“They’re gathering, tonight.” Daisy looked up, her eyes big as saucers. “This is it, Robbie.”

Robbie gave her a nod. Their domestic bliss quickly put on the back burner for hopefully finally some bigger results in their quest of taking out the core of the Watchdogs operation and hopefully with that the whole organization. “Okay, let’s get to work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I did my research but there may be some medical stuff that is off as I have no experience with this subject myself haha, and also the process is quite different than it is in the Netherlands where I life. Still I hope you enjoyed and I would love to know what you think and if you're hoping for a return of Robbie in the actual show too (again the chances are slim, I know.) I apologize if there are any grammar mistakes as English is not my first language!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! This chapter is quite a bit longer than normal, I hope you guys enjoy!

Robbie hissed, turning his head away from her.

“Sit still.” She chuckled as she pressed the wet washcloth against his face.

“Why do you even care, it’ll heal in no time.”

Daisy backed away and frowned at him, “Do you want Gabe to see you like this, all covered in blood?”

Robbie sighed, “Okay, fine.”

Daisy dapped at his wound again, cleaning the dried blood off of his face and brushed her thumb at his cheekbone, lingering a little too long. “I thought you wouldn’t be in pain as much being the Ghost Rider and all.” And pressed a delicate kiss beneath the already healing gash above his eyebrow.

Robbie huffed, “It heals fast but it still hurts.”

“I am sorry I send you to that place.” Daisy sighed, disposing the washcloth in the sink to be rinsed out

“Well,” Robbie breathed out “we have managed to wipe out a large part of their operation in no time. They’re probably onto us now. We really have to be careful.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. God, I wish I could just be there and quake their asses. I feel like so useless.”

Robbie reached out for her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze, “Hey you’re not useless. You’re keeping our baby safe. We just have to lay low. Be careful where we go after. Really pick our battles.”

Daisy nodded, “It was just easier when I had a team that…” and paused her sentence, quickly realizing she told a bit too much.

“A team?” Robbie said, his curiosity spiked, leaning back in his chair.

Daisy shrugged and faintly smiled, “Never mind, do you want to order in for dinner? I think Gabe would go for some Chinese.”

Robbie took a deep breath, she was still hiding so much from him and he wished she would just talk more about her life before they were _them._ He let go of her hand, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sure.”

Daisy could feel him growing cold instantly. She did want to tell him more, but it was really just too painful. Her heart sank when she thought of her days back in S.H.I.E.L.D. flashes shot through her mind of Coulson embracing her after a rough day, May giving her the tough love she needed, Fitz and Simmons pranking her, playing videogames after a long mission with Mack and those deep blue eyes of Lincoln…

Daisy swallowed down the lump in her throat and shook her head, “I am… going to take a nap before Gabe comes home, the baby is making me tired.” She said, brushing her belly with her hand following the slight curve. She wasn’t even that tired she just needed to be alone.

Robbie nodded, “Sure.” And looked at her midsection where her hand rested. The elation after the first sonogram had been replaced with a thick veil of doubt. Maybe it was good to have some alone time, to take a little break. “I am going to tinker on the Charger.”

“Okay,” she said as she watched him grab his leather jacket from the chair he had draped it over just before and put it on “we’ll talk about dinner once Gabe is back home.”

Daisy nodded and watched him walk out the door.

* * *

Gabe glanced from his brother to Daisy who were both picking at their noodles with their chopsticks, he could sense the vibe was off, “Did everything go well at the doctor’s?” he asked.

Both shot up, “Yeah everything was great.” Robbie answered for the both of them and pointed at the sonogram picture on the fridge.

Gabe smiled and put his food container down on the table and wheeled over to the fridge, “I am not sure what I am supposed to be looking at.”

Robbie shook his head as Daisy chuckled, “Don’t be an idiot, look.” As he stood up himself and tapped on the picture, “That’s the head, the nose and a little hand…”

Gabe tilted his head, squinting his eyes, “Okay, sure.” And turned around to Daisy “Hope the baby is going to look like you though, he was an ugly baby.”

Robbie gave him a playful push, “Don’t listen to him, I was cute. This one was bald until his first birthday.”

Gabe shrugged as he walked back to his food, “I was still cuter, though.”

Daisy looked at the two brothers amused, secretly hoping that her baby would have a sibling one day.

The vibe around the house had changed for the better again thanks to Gabe, which she was thankful for, but she knew that Robbie wasn’t going to let himself be left in the dark for long.

* * *

“So,” Daisy said as she plopped down on the couch next to Robbie after having done the dishes, “Do you have any baby pictures to show me? I mean I need to know if Gabe was right and I have to be prepared for an ugly baby.”

Robbie shook his head and smiled, “I really wasn’t an ugly baby, Gabe was messing around but I think I have a baby book somewhere.” And looked around the house, contemplating where he last saw it, before getting up from the couch and walking to one of the bookcases where he grabbed the leather bound photo book from. He handed it over to Daisy for her to grab it, but just as she was about to take it from him he pulled the book back “Promise to love our baby, even if it’s ugly.”

Daisy chuckled, “Of course I will love our ugly baby.”

“Okay, good.” And let Daisy take the book from him as he sat down next to her.

Daisy carefully brushed the dust off of it, it was clearly handled with much love by Robbie’s mother and she wanted to respect the woman that regretfully wasn’t alive to meet her grandchild.

Daisy flipped the heavy cover and it revealed a somewhat yellowed picture of a newborn baby with a tuft of dark hair and big brown eyes, Daisy let out a delighted gasp.

“See, I was cute.” Robbie said, “Well as far as a newborn can look cute.”

Daisy shook her head, “You were really cute.” And continued to flip the pages revealing more and more pictures of Robbie through the years. The typical gap-toothed pictures, the ones where they were all dressed up for Christmas, one where he was butt-naked in a kiddie pool.

“Hey don’t look at that.” Robbie said, playfully covering the picture with his hand.

Daisy raised her eyebrow and looked at him “It’s not like I have seen you naked before.”

Robbie let out an exaggerated sigh, “Okay, fine.” And flipped the page himself, “Oh look, that’s when Gabe was born.” He said. Gabe was indeed born completely bald. His face red and scrunched up from wailing. Robbie let out a sigh; “I was so protective of him, since day one.”

“I always wanted a big brother or sister growing up.” Daisy confessed, looking at the pictures of the two brothers together. Tracing the smiling boys faces. “Still do, actually.” she smiled wistfully.

Robbie put his hand on her knee and gave it a squeeze, “Do you… have any baby pictures?”

She shook her head, “No, not really. Just some identification pictures from the orphanage but not like these, no family pictures.” And absentmindedly kept flipping the pages.

“I’m sorry.” Robbie said.

“It’s okay.” As suddenly the pictures stopped and only empty pages were left.

“That’s when my mom died.” Robbie confessed, Daisy flipped one page back. The last picture was of a teenaged Robbie playing videogames with his younger brother, a typical family scene.

Robbie took the book from Daisy and closed it.

“What happened to her?”

“Cancer.” He stated simply. “Went undetected because she hated going to the doctor but when she finally went, it was too late.”

“And your dad?”

Robbie shrugged, clenching his fists. “Couldn’t cope with it I guess, left us with my uncle Eli.”

They both fell silent, Daisy smiled wistfully, “Sorry I thought it would be fun to look through pictures, didn’t mean to open old wounds.”

Robbie shrugged, “It’s okay, sometimes it’s good to go back and deal with your past.”

Daisy knew exactly what he was trying to say but pretended otherwise. “Promise me.” She said.

“Promise you, what?”

“That we’ll take loads of baby pictures.”

“And fill all the pages.”

Daisy gave him a nod, “And fill _all_ the pages.”

* * *

Daisy stood in front of Robbie’s door. It was actually pretty ridiculous she still did this, they could just easily go to sleep together in his bed every night, but instead, they did this whole ‘good night’ routine and she would move to her room and he would go lay in his bed. Then, in the middle of the night, she would join him so she could actually fall asleep. 

But it was as if they were crossing a line if she did. All these weird unspoken rules they had bestowed onto themselves. Daisy sighed. She was getting sick of all these imaginary lines and she missed him, loving him, like they used to. Daisy fiddled with the strings of her sleep shorts, grateful for the shorts still fitting around her ever expanding waist because of the thick elastic band, and put her hand on the door handle, gently pushing it so it wouldn’t make as much of a noise.

“Hey,” she whispered, suddenly a little short of breath. Robbie was lying on his back, only his bottom half covered by the sheets as it was a hot night. The dim light of the streetlight threw tempting shadows on his chest, and she tiptoed to the bed.

Robbie just gave her a nod, assuming she’d walk around the bed to ‘her’ side, but instead, she swallowed and didn’t lie down next to him to cuddle into his side like she normally did. A little shy but full of anticipation, she pushed the blanket aside, and went and sat on his lap, her hands trailing his abs and landing on his pecs. 

Robbie was taken aback by the sudden change but felt goose bumps spread all over, as her fingers brushed his skin. It had been a while since she straddled him and her warm thighs on his lap made him forget for a moment all that had happened. He let out a soft moan, “What are you doing?”

“I miss you.” She answered simply, leaning over to kiss his neck and peppering small kisses along his jawline. Robbie could feel the ends of her soft hair tickle his bare chest and threw caution to wind. He let his hands eagerly wander her body, sitting up and pressing his body up against hers, feeling her rapid heartbeat racing his. Daisy deepened the kiss; her hands running through his dark hair, and they melted away in the passion for a moment, no longer thinking about the heat or any other obstacle.

Then, abruptly, Robbie found himself again and halted their frenzied making out.

“What?” she said breathlessly, her lips still tingly from their burning kisses.

Robbie took a deep breath and leaned back on his lower arms, “I can’t do this, Daisy. Not like this.”

Daisy sat back, still on his lap and looked hurt. “Why not?” as her hand moved to her belly, “Is it because?”

Robbie shook his head furiously, “Oh, no, no! It’s not that, you are _beautiful_.” He said genuinely.

“Then what is it?”

Robbie released a breath, “I feel like if we do this we will fall back into our old routine and I can’t do that anymore, Daisy.”

“Robbie, it’s just sex.”

“It’s _not_ just sex, Daisy, not anymore! Look at us. We live together, we’re having a baby together but I still know _nothing_ about you and you won’t tell me. I just always feel like you could run away any day and I would never see you again.”

“I won’t run, Robbie.”

“How can I be sure?”

Daisy climbed off his lap and went to sit next to him, her arms around her knees. “It’s not that I don’t trust you Robbie. It’s just so painful, I want to leave the past in the past.”

“But it is still clearly hurting you.”

“I just don’t want to talk about it, Robbie!” she exclaimed, getting off the bed.

Robbie looked at her, she was getting angry but he wasn’t going to back down again.

“Look Daisy, whatever happened I don’t care. I just want to know who you are, where you’re coming from, what makes you tick and if you’re keeping so much to yourself… we can’t build on that. _I_ can’t build on that.”

Daisy folded her arms around herself, suddenly feeling chilly despite the heat, “Fine, then don’t.” she said defeated and turned around towards the bedroom door.

“Daisy,” he called out, “You don’t have to go.”

She shook her head, “Goodnight, Robbie.” And closed the door behind her, tears welling in her eyes as she hurried back to her room.

Robbie cursed to himself, not regretting confronting her but not knowing how to move forward from this.

* * *

Daisy woke up disoriented, instead of being held in Robbie’s arms she woke in a completely different bed, “Oh, right.” She mumbled to herself and grunted as she remembered their fight from last night. She slowly sat up and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes as she looked around. She started to resent this room and what it now stood for but she was dreading seeing Robbie at the breakfast table even more. Daisy slowly got out of bed and pulled her bathrobe from the floor, putting it on and tying it above her belly. She could go for a shower first but also wanted the awkward confrontation to be over with as soon as possible.

Daisy took a deep breath and got out of her room and slowly made her way towards the kitchen. Weirdly enough there was no sign of Robbie. She expected him to sit at the table, shuffling some cereal down and bantering with Gabe, but he wasn’t. Daisy frowned but soon spotted a brightly colored post-it note on the fridge next to where the sonogram pictures were hung, so smiled to her self; Robbie of course knew that it was the first place she would look. Daisy pulled the post-it from the fridge and read it, her heart sank.

“Where’s Robbie?” Gabe said who appeared out of nowhere.

Daisy jumped and turned around “He left a note, saying he went to work early to work on a new car and he won’t be back before dinner.”

Gabe nodded, “Okay, we’ll figure something out for dinner. I have to go to school now so, bye.”

Daisy faintly smiled, “Bye.” And watched him leave through the front door.

Gabe hadn’t picked up on the strangeness of the situation, at least he didn’t show it. She sighed again as she sat down in the empty kitchen. Well he clearly was dreading talking about the night before like she had or he wouldn’t have taken off like this. She shook her head and instead of breakfast decided to take her prenatal vitamins and shower first.

* * *

Daisy had sat around the house all day, still tracking the Watchdogs on her computer but in her head she was constantly at the night before, replaying their fight over and over. Daisy closed her laptop shut and sighed. It was already way past dinnertime, she had had a quiet dinner with Gabe who had quickly excused himself after to finish his project, leaving Daisy alone again with her thoughts.

She stared out the window, it was already dark and there was still no sign of the rumbling of Robbie’s car. Daisy felt herself grow tired, she wasn’t able to stay up as late as she used to, and the faint sound of the television she had turned on in the background to drown out her thoughts, now made her eyes droop and slowly lulled her to sleep.

Daisy startled awake, the TV was turned off and she was covered with one of the throws draped over the couch. She rubbed her eyes and saw that finally Robbie had come home as his car was parked in its spot. He had probably seen her asleep and pulled a blanket over her. God, even when he was angry he was caring, she thought. Daisy pushed herself off of the couch, and looked at the clock on the wall. It was already late and he was probably already asleep but it hadn’t mattered before so she decided to quietly make her way to his bedroom, her hand hovering above the door handle. She clenched her hand into a fist and let out a deep breath. Maybe this wasn’t the best time to talk about this, he’s probably very tired after working all day on that car, she rationalized to herself and let her hand drop next to her, eyeing the door from the spare room and with a sigh deciding to go to her own bed instead.

* * *

The next morning the same scenario had repeated itself, there was a new post-it but it said the same thing, Daisy sighed crumpling the note into her hand and dropping it into the bin. “Must be an important car, huh.” Gabe said as he left for school, leaving Daisy alone in the house yet again.

She hated feeling like this, she wasn’t able to work or go after those damn Watchdogs and Robbie was still clearly avoiding her and even though she wasn’t as nauseous as before she still felt pretty queasy and she was quite literally sick of it.

Daisy practically threw her laptop beside her on the couch and folded her arms; he couldn’t just leave everyday, right? But even if they were going to talk she knew she didn’t have anything to say. He wanted her to open up, she didn’t want to even think of the past because all those feeling on how she missed them all so damn much would bubble up, and she couldn’t change it anyway, she wasn’t expecting for them to welcome her back with open arms. Not after what she’d done. So why bother.

Daisy shook her head, _He wouldn’t like the real me anyway_ she thought. Suddenly her blood ran cold and she cursed to herself. It was the exact same thing Ward had said to her all those years ago before he betrayed her and the rest of the team. She shook her head, she had enough of this. She looked at the clock, it was about lunchtime for Robbie at his place of work and she knew he’d be there. Daisy grabbed her jacket, checked if she had her phone and keys and exited the house.

* * *

Daisy walked into the garage, the smell was exactly the one that Robbie brought home after he came back from work everyday and she suddenly realized how much she missed it. The normally bantering colleagues of Robbie were not there. Probably out for lunch at one of the food stands a few blocks down, she thought. She sighed; Robbie was probably with them as the garage was silent until she noticed two familiar feet sticking out beneath one of the cars.

“Robbie?” she asked hesitantly, not entirely sure if it was him. Robbie rolled himself from underneath the car and looked surprised to see her.

“Daisy, what are you doing here?” he asked dumbfounded, wiping the sweat from his forehead which left a big dark stain above his brow.

Daisy leaned against one of the cars and shrugged, “You were right, Robbie.”

Robbie sat up, “What?”

“You were right,” she repeated, “about everything.”

Robbie struggled to sit up from the moving trolley and leaned against the car he had been working on just before. “I wasn’t doing this because I wanted to be _right_ , Daisy. I just want to get to know you.”

Daisy shook her head, “It is just really difficult for me. Every time I get settled somewhere, happy, something terrible happens, it always does. ” She took a deep breath, “I was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.”

Robbie hummed, “I already thought so.”

“You did? How?”

“Not sure if you were S.H.I.E.L.D. but I definitely knew you were some kind of agent, maybe military because the jargon you used, going into the field and such.”

“Right.” She answered; she hadn’t been as stealthy as she thought she was. “I had a team that were like family to me, S.H.I.E.L.D. was my life and I was good at what I did, really good. I really felt like I made a difference.”

“Daisy, I only wanted you to open up to me a little, you don’t have to tell me everything now.”

Daisy shook her head, “No, I want to.”

“Okay.”

“But I… I was swayed by this dark entity, it was like a drug, it messed with my mind and I couldn’t weapon myself against it because it was like a virus for Inhumans like myself. That entity made me feel like I was finally without pain, without worries, but it made me hurt the people around me. Betray them. Even almost kill them. My boyfriend at the time… he was also a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent but he did it more to be with me, it wasn’t really his thing.”

Robbie slowly nodded, “The man from the picture I saw in your notebook.”

“Yeah, his name was Lincoln and he… he sacrificed himself for me. I begged him not to but he did. I was the one who was supposed to be…”

Robbie had walked over to Daisy, she was trembling her eyes filling up with tears. “That’s why I left. I couldn’t have any more people around me be hurt because of me.” Robbie opened his arms and Daisy gratefully let herself fall in his arms as he placed a kiss on top of her head. “There’s much more.”

“You don’t have to tell me everything right now. It’s okay.” He assured her.

Daisy nodded, drying her tears with her sleeve as she reached for her inner pocket of her jacket and pulled out a wrinkled photograph. It was a picture taken at one of their Christmas parties when Bobbi and Hunter were still a part of the team. It was her favorite picture out of all of them and had made sure to take it with her when she left. She pointed at the smiling older man in the picture, “Coulson was the one who took me in when I was basically living on the streets, he gave me a home and a believe and taught me everything. He was the closest thing I’ve had to a father, honestly.”

Robbie studied the picture; it genuinely looked more like a family than what you would typically think of a bunch of co-workers together. “Why don’t you contact them?”

Daisy shook her head, “No, it’s been months. It’s too late. But it’s okay, truly.”

Robbie had his doubts but didn’t want to push, “Okay.” He said making slow circles on her back.

“I missed you.” She chuckled, feeling like a blubbering mess.

Robbie cupped her face in his hand, “Me too, I don’t even care about this stupid car.”

Daisy chuckled, “Will you come home before dinner?”

Robbie looked behind him at the car he was working on and shrugged, “I’ll come home right now, I’ve been working on this old clunker non-stop.”

Daisy smiled, “Good.”

Robbie grinned, “Good, because we have a lot of lost time to make up for.” And kissed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was kind of wondering if people are still reading this story? I am not begging for comments or anything it's just hard to gage if people are actually still reading and enjoying because even if it's only a small percentage it's worth it to me :) In the next chapter there is going to be a significant time jump and we will be meeting the team very soon, I promise! Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, so I will warn you guys this chapter is long... as twice as long as a normal chapter so for the ones that like it you're welcome for the other's that don't, I am sorry, lol. The next chapters will be of a more 'normal' length. Also this chapter starts our very fluffy but I promise it will pick up quickly! But for now enjoy the little time jump!
> 
> (I also made some art for this fic!)

**Eleven weeks later**

“I wish your _abuela_ was here to meet you, _mi hija_.” Robbie whispered, “She would’ve loved you. She always wanted a daughter but was stuck with two boys instead.” He smiled to himself, thinking fondly of his mother, “Maybe I can teach you how to cook like her one day… she made these fish taco’s like no one else. They’re kind of a family secret.”

“Wha-?”, Daisy mumbled a little disoriented as she could hear Robbie’s voice but he wasn’t in sight. Daisy propped herself up. Normally Robbie’s face would be next to her, smiling from his pillow. But he had moved down, face to face with her bump.

Robbie looked up and smirked, “I wasn’t talking to you.”

Daisy chuckled, “You’re an idiot”, and yawned.

“Hey!” Robbie said, “That’s not a good example to set for her young developing ears.”

Daisy smiled and put her hand on her belly, resting on the curve. Since she really began to show her hands were like a magnet to her belly. “You were telling her stories?” she wondered, flinching as she got a good kick to her bladder.

“Yeah, about my mother, family, stuff like that. I just want our _niña_ to get to know my voice. I read that since you’re 23 weeks along now, she can hear.”

“That’s sweet, Robbie.” Moving her hand that rested on her bump to the top of Robbie’s head, she brushed her fingers through his short dark hair and tugged on his ear, “Come here.”

Robbie climbed back up and gave her a quick good morning kiss before resting his head back on his cool pillow.

“Is everything okay?” Daisy asked.

Robbie sighed, “I have just been thinking about my father. How he wasn’t really ever there for me or Gabe and how I will be as a father.”

“Oh, Robbie you’re not like that.”

Robbie shrugged, “When my mom died and he had left I promised myself that if I ever had kids I would never leave them, that I would be the best father I could be, but…”

“But what?”

“There is a literal hell demon inside of me, Daisy, and even though I am in control most of the time, I feel him tug, and I feel that fire raging inside, all the damn time.”

Daisy moved her hand to his face, brushing her thumb against his cheekbone, “I’m sorry, Robbie.”

Robbie sighed, “How can I be a good dad and not know when this thing inside of me is going to take over and just bail to exact revenge on random people?”

“As far as I’m concerned, Robbie, you are already a good dad because you _care_. If it ever comes to that we’ll deal with it.”

Robbie slowly nodded, placing a warm hand on her belly, softly stroking the taut skin. “I don’t know if I can be the dad I want to be, like this. I want to get rid of it, Daisy. I am not sure how but I want to. After all of this is done, after we’ve fought those damn Watchdogs, I want to figure out a way to be done with this hell demon.”

“I’ll be there every step of the way, I promise.”

Robbie smiled, “Thank you.”

Daisy moved her hand to his that was rested on her belly and tangled her fingers with his, “But first I really need to pee.” She said with a sigh and pushed herself off of the bed.

* * *

“What are you doing?” Robbie asked concerned as he felt vibrations coming from the kitchen and the sound of utensils, pots and pans clattering.

“I am making breakfast.” Daisy stated.

“No… you are _quaking_ breakfast. Robbie retorted, placing the salt and pepper shaker upright again.

Daisy chuckled, her hand above the sizzling eggs, “I swear, they’re tastier quaked than scrambled.”

“You’re making the house shake just to prepare eggs?”

“You just wait and see.” Daisy said with a smirk as she loaded the ‘quaked’ eggs onto a plate and put it in front of Robbie who sat at the kitchen table. Robbie picked up a fork and stabbed the eggs before eating them.

“Wow, okay.” He said after swallowing the first bite, “These are _really_ good!”, and he quickly scarfed down the rest.

Daisy smiled proudly as she sat down next to him with her own plate, “Good enough for a little earthquake in the kitchen?”

Robbie nodded with his mouth full, swallowed, and replied “What can I say? You’ve convinced me.”

* * *

“Okay, let me get this straight.” Gabe said as he was pulling a moving box onto his lap and wheeled it out of the spare room, “You knock a girl up and _I_ have to help clean out the spare room.”

Robbie sighed, “You know what? If you ever knock up a girl, I promise you I will help you clean up the nursery, fine?”

Gabe smiled and placed the box onto the others, “I am just kidding, I am glad I can help out.”

“I know,” Daisy said, “Thank you, Gabe.”

Most of the nursery furniture was second-hand or even from when Robbie and Gabe were still babies left to gather dust in the garage. Robbie has spent hours sanding them down and painting it white so it would all match. The old wallpaper was stripped and the walls had been painted white, except one where the crib was sitting against. That one was painted in a really soft warm yellow that reminded them of the morning sun. It was simple but effective and combined with new curtains and a fluffy rug it was perfect to them, except for maybe the boxes that were still stacked in the corner.

Daisy sat down onto the rocking chair, looking out of the window, trying to imagine how it would be to actually cradle her child instead of her belly.

These last few months had flown by and life was strangely good for the couple even though they were still wanted and fighting Watchdogs. Besides the battling, they had done the normal steps every expectant couple was doing and the pregnancy was progressing nicely without any problem. At the 20-week scan they discovered they were having a girl and Robbie was elated. Daisy hadn’t really cared about the gender from the start, but it was nice to see Robbie so happy.

Even though they were just living day-to-day life, in the back of their minds they felt the constant threat that was the world outside of their nice domestic bubble. Since Daisy had told Robbie about her past as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent the picture of her team had gotten a nice place on the mantel, and instead of it hurting, it made her feel grateful of the days she had spent with them, learnt from them and she hoped they’d understood why she couldn’t have stayed and why she had left.

Daisy hissed, she chastised herself as she felt the familiar cramps of the Braxton hicks’ contraction. They were mild but it meant she had again forgotten to drink enough liquids.

“What’s wrong?” Robbie asked, moving the last of the boxes, since Gabriel had taken a break.

Daisy looked at him guiltily, “Forgot to drink my water again.”

Robbie sighed with a smile and shook his head as he left the nursery to come back with a glass of water and handed it to her.

“Thanks.” Daisy answered and took a sip, and smiled. She looked around the nursery. Now that almost all of the boxes had been moved out, it finally felt like the little nursery was complete, except for the little things that still were missing, things like toys, books, clothing, diapers and such, but as they had many more weeks to go they weren’t stressing. Robbie had sat down at her feet, taking a break from the moving and took a sip from his own water.

“Why are you smiling?” Daisy asked, as she saw Robbie grin out of nowhere.

“Oh,” he said, “I was looking at the newest sonogram picture on the fridge when I got our water, and it reminded how awkward it was in that waiting room for that first sonogram, remember?”

Daisy huffed, “Of course, I do. _Robbie Gabriel_.” Shaking her head at how he had ruined his fake name even after practicing it on their way to the hospital that day.

Robbie shrugged and sat his glass down next to him, “We were talking back then how we couldn’t imagine you being as ‘big’ as those women were in the waiting room... and look at you now!”

Daisy placed her hand on her bump. “First of all, how dare you?!”, she said jokingly and tugged on his ear.

“Hey! You know I don’t mean it like that!”

“And second of all… Yeah it’s weird how that goes. I am glad I can still see my feet though but probably not for long.”

Robbie grabbed her by the ankle, “You mean these feet?” And held them up, tickling the sole of her feet. “Don’t!” she yelped, laughing out loud, “Makes me need to pee, _again_!”

Robbie let go of her foot and laughed, Daisy put her bare foot against his face and he chuckled and quickly swiped it away “Gross!”

Daisy laughed, followed by a big yawn, “I am going to lie down on the couch for a bit if you don’t mind”.

Robbie shook his head, “No, go ahead, I am going to finish it up in here so all of this crap is gone and I’ll probably just go and bring it to goodwill.”

“Oh that’d be great,” she replied, stifling another yawn. Robbie stood up and helped her out of the rocking chair, brushing a strand of hair out of her face, he gave her a soft kiss. “I’ll see you in an hour or so, okay?”

Daisy hummed, “Okay, I’ll see you when you get back.”

* * *

Robbie finally got the last of the boxes at goodwill and seriously contemplated getting McDonald’s on the way back. He knew for sure Daisy would love a milkshake, as it was her newest craving. Suddenly, something felt off as if he was being watched and in the corner of his eye he spotted some men that seemed to be very interested in him. Robbie felt the Ghost Rider inside him tug for dominance, but he dismissed it and got into his car.

As he fired up the engine the men came closer and whistled, “Nice car.”

Robbie just gave a nod, not feeling like going into a conversation with these men.

“It’s a ’69 Charger, right?”

“Yeah.” He answered.

“You don’t see those a whole lot, not like these, right?” One of the men asked his bearded buddy. “No, this one is pretty unique.” The friend replied with a smirk.

Robbie’s neck hairs were standing upright; he did get a lot of attention from car enthusiasts everywhere he went, but this time felt different. Finally the car in front of him had moved and he was able to turn around and get away. He made sure to take a mental image of the men before driving off without saying a word to them, their eyes following him as he left. He let go of his plan to go through the drive-thru and took extra precaution to take a big scenic route before going home, not wanting to take any chances of someone following him.

When Robbie finally returned home, he found Daisy asleep on the couch with the TV still on. Robbie smiled and shook his head as he looked for the remote. He turned off the TV and squatted next to Daisy. He knew for a fact that he should wake her up _very_ gently. He once got a fist to his face when waking her too suddenly. She had apologized profusely, and said it was still an instinct from her days working for S.H.I.E.L.D., and he had made a mental note while holding frozen peas against his nose to not wake her up like that anymore.

He had planned to tell her what he had witnessed an hour before, but as he saw her peaceful sleeping face he decided not to. No need to stress her out, they were probably car enthusiasts he tried to convince himself.

“Hey, Daisy.” He said gently, pushing a dark strand of her hair from her face, “I’m back.”

“Did you get food?” She slurred from sleep.

Robbie chuckled, “ _Si,_ I did some groceries.”

“Stuff’s gone?” She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Yeah, it’s all done. We have an empty nursery now, ready for this little one.” He said as he poked at her belly.

Daisy grunted, “Stop, you’re gonna wake her up.”

“I wanna feel her kick.” As he poked at her rounded stomach again.

Daisy swiped his hand away, “Sorry, all of the kicks are reserved for my insides right now, and those are not cute.”

He smiled, “I’ll feel them soon enough, though. I’m going to make us dinner. Where’s Gabe?”

Daisy nodded and yawned, “Still playing videogames, I’ll help you chop.”

Robbie nodded and made his way to the kitchen, taking the groceries out of the bags and he started on making the sauce. Daisy had joined him; she picked the tomatoes and cleaned them under the faucet. The men that had made comments about his car still not sat right with him, but as he looked at Daisy carefully cleaning the tomatoes, he decided it wasn’t going to be a team effort this time and he was going to check the men out himself and see what was up, because if it was true that those men were part of the Watchdogs, like he suspected, and they had indeed figured out that he was the Ghost Rider, they were in serious danger. He’d do _anything_ to protect his family, even if it meant protecting Daisy from herself.

* * *

“Why are you on my laptop?” Daisy asked as she was drying her hair with a towel.

Robbie cursed to himself, he thought he had at least a few more minutes to find out if there were indeed more Watchdogs at the area he was the day before, not that the high tech program Daisy was using made any sense to him, “Just checking err, the weather, sorry, I couldn’t find my phone.”

Daisy looked around. “It’s over there.” She pointed at his phone that was lying on top of the bed sheets, right next to him. She chuckled. Robbie apologized and closed the laptop. Okay, so he was going to do this without the laptop. “I am heading to Canelo’s today,” he announced.

“Really? I thought you had a day off and we could do something together.” Daisy said a bit disappointed.

Robbie felt bad about his lie but he had to check it out, “I am sorry, it’s not for long, we got this phone call and they were going to pay a lot extra if this car was finished before tomorrow. I thought it would be nice to have some extra money as there is still a lot we got to buy.”

Daisy sighed and sat down next to him on the bed, “Yeah okay, I guess if you want to be responsible and stuff.”

Robbie kissed her and put his hand on her bump as a way to say hello and goodbye, “I won’t be gone all day and I’ll even bring you a milkshake, okay?”

“Thanks,” she smiled, “I wanted to go to local goodwill anyway, see if they got some new stuff we can use for the nursery.”

Robbie’s blood ran cold, “Why?”

“Why?” she laughed, “Because I am bored and I want to do something.”

“I went there yesterday, it was all just crap, I wouldn’t bother.”

Daisy raised her eyebrow, “Really? Nothing good?”

Robbie shook his head, “No, but why don’t we go another time and go together?” Hoping she would forget about it, at least for today.

Daisy looked at him, “Okay sure… Are you okay Robbie? You seem stressed.”

Robbie smiled, “I am good, I promise.” And kissed her again, “Just not feeling like going to work and leaving you.”

“We’ll be fine,” she laughed, “I can take care of myself, you know that.”

“I know, I know.”

“Now go! So you can come back home early,” she said, giving him a playful push.

“I will.” Robbie said with a smile, now really not wanting to go. He loved seeing her in her bathrobe and smelling like her lavender body wash.

Robbie groaned and finally got up from the bed. Said goodbye and left the house deep in thought. He got into his car and just as he was about to start the ignition, he saw Daisy opening the front door and gesturing at him.

“What is it?” he asked, as he opened the door of his car.

“Can you get me some chicken nuggets too?”

Robbie chuckled, “Sure!”

Daisy looked pleased, “ _Gracias_!” she answered, her Spanish vocabulary still very limited but he loved that she was trying.

* * *

Robbie parked the Charger near the goodwill on the same spot he was the day before. He felt bad about not telling Daisy the truth, and even worse that she believed his lie, but he needed to check it out before even considering putting her in danger. There was too much at stake.

Robbie eyed the parking lot, he of course didn’t know if the same men would be there, but something told him they were close as the Ghost Rider within was starting to slowly burn again. Robbie suddenly noticed other men, different men from the two low-life’s he saw the day before staring intensely from the alley further back. He stared back but they didn’t budge. Robbie pulled the hood of his hoodie up and got out of his car, putting his hand in his pockets and made his way over.

He walked into the alley, there was a distinct stench of old garbage that had been sitting in the sun for too long, and street cats that scurried away as he approached them, but the men didn’t seem as bothered with the stink as he was. “What do you want.” Robbie said gruffly, it was barely a question. The men looked as if they were expecting him, leaning against their parked car.

One of them smirked, “We knew you’d be back.”

Robbie didn’t answer, just stared at the guys in front of him. They hadn’t actually told him they were Watchdogs, but from the way the Ghost Rider was burning in his core, he was pretty sure they were.

“Be there at 1 am.” One of them said, giving him a piece of paper with an address scribbled on it.

“Why would I?” Robbie answered, the Ghost Rider practically begging to be let loose to wreck some havoc.

The men looked at each other, now a little apprehensive as Robbie’s eyes started to glow, “Trust us, you don’t want to do that. _Be there_.” The men got in their car. “Freak!” The other one muttered under his breath and Robbie watched them quickly drive off.

Robbie stared at the piece of paper again; he recognized the address. It was at an industrial part of the city, no people living there except for maybe a lost homeless person. He sighed, knowing it was probably a trap but he had to go. The Watchdogs now knew of his existence and even though he couldn’t be killed, the people around him and the people he loved, _could_.

* * *

Robbie decided after his brief meeting that he could go to the garage and actually do some work, like he had told Daisy, and get that extra money they desperately needed so it wasn’t as much of a lie.

In the beginning of their partnership they would take chunks of money that the Watchdogs ‘left’ as they were defeated, but it was all dirty money and they chose not to use it anymore. Not knowing where it came from or whether it was used in anything shady so they came to the conclusion to be as straight as possible in their quest and not use it anymore.

“ _Oye_ , Robbie! Why hadn’t you told us you’re going to be a _un papi?”_ One of his colleagues yelled at him as he had walked into Canelo’s.

Robbie’s head whipped around “ _Qué_?!” he answered shocked, “How do you know?”

The older man walked closer while cleaning his stained hands with a cloth. “Your _chica,_ she was just here asking about you, said you forgot your lunch, said you had a special job to work on. We told you we hadn’t heard of this job. Are you cheating on her?”

Robbie looked shocked. “Shit _,”_ he muttered under his breath.“No, of course not. I would never.”

His colleague shrugged, “She looked pretty pissed.” Robbie groaned and checked his phone. He totally forgot he had put it on silent and there were several messages from Daisy and a few missed phone calls. The messages started out with a still friendly: ‘ _You forgot your lunch again, dumbass_ ” and a heart emoji,but after a few she was demanding an answer from him.

Robbie ignored the calls and instead texted her, “I’m sorry. I’m coming home.” He felt bad he had to lie to her _again_ as he had the Watchdogs meeting that night, but he couldn’t involve her just yet. He knew she’d either not allow him to go or even worse: demand she’d go with him.

Robbie ignored his taunting colleagues and got into his car again, and felt his phone vibrate with a message. It was Daisy: ‘You better’. Robbie sighed with his forehead against the steering wheel, then he leaned back again as he started the ignition, trying to think of an excuse on his way back home. But not without her McDonald’s order from that morning or he would be in even more trouble.

* * *

Robbie parked his car and sighed again, taking the still warm fast food bag from the passenger seat and exited the car. As he got through the front door, he could spot Daisy easily, she was sitting cross-legged onto the couch with her laptop in her still existing lap. She eyed him as he put her order onto the kitchen counter and draped his jacket onto one of the chairs.

“I know you’re mad.”

Daisy crossed her arms, “You’ve been acting weird lately Robbie, and it scares me. Why did you lie?”

She was calmer than he thought she would be. Robbie rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “I am sorry, I have been working on a surprise for you and the baby and I didn’t want you to know about it, I was heading to work but I had made a stop before that.” Robbie didn’t exactly lie as he was indeed fixing up his old childhood bicycle as a gift for later, but it wasn’t exactly the truth either.

Daisy blinked and placed her laptop next to her as she struggled to get up. Robbie walked up to her and helped her get onto her feet, as she wasn’t as nimble as she used to be. “I don’t want to be distrusting... I just felt like something was up and I got nervous. Sorry”

Robbie felt bad that he made her apologize; she didn’t have anything to be sorry for. Daisy walked into his arms for an embrace, Robbie put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “Everything I do is for my family, I hope you know that.”

Daisy nodded and looked up at him, “I know.”

Robbie kissed her, “Also, I got your food.”

Daisy exhaled “Thank god.” And then bit her lip, “Oh I threw away your lunch, by the way.”

Robbie chuckled, “I deserved that.” 

“Are you going back to work?” She asked as she untangled herself from him and combed a hand through her raven locks.

“No, I took the day off.”

Daisy smiled, “Good.” And walked towards the kitchen, greedily opening the bag and taking a bite out of one of the chicken nuggets, “Oh, your colleagues were pretty surprised to see me, you didn’t tell them I was pregnant?” she chuckled.

Robbie smiled back at her and shook his head, “No, I don’t really talk about home stuff because they’d keep taunting me, and asking me questions, and I really just want to work on the cars and go home, otherwise it will only complicate things more.” he explained while making himself a sandwich.

“Well they got a big surprise,” Daisy said, and sucked loudly from her milkshake through the straw, “they were happy for you, though. They care about you.”

Robbie sighed, “Yeah, I should’ve told them, I’ll bring them some beers next time, or cigars... I am not sure which is appropriate.” He smiled at Daisy.

“Good,” She nodded, “I know you prioritize us, but you deserve a life outside of all of this, outside of the Ghost Rider, and have your own friends.”

Robbie shook his head and forced a smile, “Yeah, you’re right.” He was feeling even worse for lying and about everything he was currently keeping from her, wishing that after tonight it would all be over soon.

* * *

Robbie stared at Daisy, only being able to make out the contours of her face in the dim streetlights from outside. He had gone to bed with her at the same time but wasn’t able to sleep, as he knew he had to go and meet up with the Watchdogs anyway. He regretfully untangled himself from her arms and replaced his body with the pregnancy pillow she hadn’t really been using yet, still preferring him to the strangely long pillow. He looked at her; she looked so peaceful. He sighed and wrote a little note that if she woke up in the middle of the night she wouldn’t worry, something along the lines of that he couldn’t sleep and was going to tinker on his car. It wasn’t the greatest excuse so he just prayed he got back in time before her brown eyes went looking for his sleeping face on the pillow next to her.

Robbie quietly exited the bedroom and quickly put on some clothes and pulled his trusty leather jacket from the chair he had draped it over, and quietly closed the front door. The air had that distinctive smell to it, the night always smelled different to him, and it suddenly reminded him of the day he had just formed the little partnership with Daisy. He reminisced on how they fell into bed together that night after too many sips of that damn scotch. Not that he regretted any of it, as he was convinced it was also probably that night they conceived their daughter. Although, it could’ve been the day after that, or the day after that, or well any of those nights they ‘celebrated’ a victory. He liked the idea of it being that first night though. 

He got in the car, the familiar sound of leather of the seats against his jacket made his car feel like home, and with a sigh he pulled the wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket with the address on it. He knew exactly where it was and pulled the car out of the driveway and into the night.

* * *

The address led him to a building that was perfectly inconspicuous, just your average factory of which there were hundreds of in the same area. It was only dimly lit by yellowed streetlights and when Robbie turned the engine off which also dimmed the headlights, it was almost entirely dark. Not that he was afraid of darkness. It reminded him of when Daisy had said to him once that he was literally a ‘walking torch’. Robbie shook his head. He could set this whole place on fire and be done with it and the Ghost Rider within was practically begging him again to do exactly that, but he thought investigating it would be a bit smarter.

Robbie chose to stay in his human form (for now), and opened the screeching door left unlocked and got in. Inside, the building was well lit, and boxes were stacked; which seemed like they could be filled with weapons or maybe they were just empty, he couldn’t see and didn’t care. 

There were many people around, all of them covered with their typical Watchdogs masks, nothing like the men he had met before that were either brave or dumb enough to just show their faces. Lots of the masked people held up their guns and pointed it at him, he wasn’t faced as he of course couldn’t die but he wasn’t sure if _they_ knew that, and he continued to walk to the man that was clearly their leader. The man was sitting kicked back at a desk that looked quite out of place. Robbie tossed the crumpled paper with the address on it he had received that morning on the desk. “I’m here. What do you want?”

The man in front of him looked up, Robbie couldn’t see any facial expressions or even eyes really, he just knew he was a white man as his hands were bare. The Watchdog tapped on his desk with a pen and said “Roberto Reyes. You are responsible for our biggest set-backs,” as he pointed at him with his pen and then shrugged, “Well I guess not you in particular but your fiery friend certainly has.” His voice was deep but muffled by the mask. Robbie didn’t answer although his eyes started to glow.

“So was Quake who was with you, wasn’t she? Like some sort of a team?”

Robbie could feel the fire crawling under his skin with the mere mention of Daisy, but he knew that if the demon himself came out there wasn’t much talking anymore and he needed to find out why he was invited to this dreadful place.

“But then suddenly she wasn’t, huh? You guys came so close to shutting this whole operation down, but like fire,” as he made a swoosh sound and gestured as if his hands were flames, “You guys were gone.”

Robbie stayed silent. Sometimes being silent was his biggest strength as most of his opponents would run their mouth anyway, encouraged by his quietness.

“But then you were back. Every location, every fight, you were there. But not the _inhuman,_ not anymore.”

Robbie still kept silent, giving him a deadly glare, he knew the Watchdog was trying to get a rise out of him, and he didn’t want to give him the pleasure.

“Turns out… that finding someone with a car like yours is quite easy and when my men followed you home… well we found out, that-” as he pointed with his pen at Robbie again, the smugness was tangible, “- you knocked the inhuman up with your demon spawn.”

Even though Robbie felt like he was on fire, his blood ran cold. He knew it, he knew this was going to lead to eventually putting Daisy and their baby in danger, he felt so damn stupid and know they even knew where they lived.

“I should _kill_ you.” He grunted, his eyes starting to glow and with a groan finally let the Ghost Rider free in him and grabbed the throat of the masked man in front of him over his desk, squeezing his windpipe shut.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the Watchdog uttered, barely being able to speak, and he gestured at the monitor behind him, which suddenly showed a live-feed of a sleeping Daisy just like he had left her, through the window of his house. Robbie was able to return to his human form quite quickly as he hadn’t completely transformed yet, and staggered back and dropped the man onto the ground. The man laid coughing on the ground, tore off his mask and took a deep inhale, trying to collect his breath. Robbie didn’t recognize the man but he surely looked as slimy as Robbie expected him to look with blue beady eyes and his hair slicked back. “Kill us, and she is _dead_. There’s multiple men ready to fire and we know she’s deadly, but is she too when she’s asleep?” he said, still wheezing.

“What do you want?” Robbie grunted, his eyes glued to the screen where he saw Daisy’s chest rise and fall in her sleep.

“Leave us alone.” The now unmasked man simply stated, “Do not come near our operation, do not kill any of our men and we leave you and your ‘cute’ little family, alone,” He gave Robbie a look of utter disgust. “Don’t think you can come and kill me or my men because there are many, _many_ more and they’re _everywhere,_ spread over this whole country _._ I only have to give a signal and she’s dead.”

God, leaving the Watchdogs alone... this was everything that went against his beliefs. Daisy would never understand and the growing inhuman intolerance was clearly only becoming bigger and bigger. But the Watchdogs clearly had the upper hand now, targeting where it hurt most. He could and would never put his family in danger but he could never tell her, could he? 

Robbie cursed to himself, kicked a chair that fell with a loud bang onto the ground and started pacing but eventually gave the leader a nod. The man had already stood up, he was still panting from the attack to his throat, but smirked smugly.

“I want to see your men leave, _now_! And you have a deal.” Robbie grunted, punctuating his words. They probably knew he couldn’t die because there was zero attempts to even shoot him, even when he was choking their leader they remained calm.

The man in front of him looked pleased with himself and signed one of his goons who muttered something into his mic and soon the live-feed started to wobble, the camera zoomed back and it was turned off.

Robbie fought the urge to let the demon inside of him free again and wreck the place and kill everyone in his proximity, but instead, he left without looking back and got into his car. His heart was racing and his hands were shaking as he tried to get home as quickly as he could, at least at night there weren’t as much traffic, his mind was going a hundred miles per hour praying that the mother of his child was still sleeping safe and sound in their bed.

When he arrived he quickly went to the bedroom where Daisy was indeed still safe and sound as if nothing had happened. He let out a trembling breath and started to check on Gabe in his bedroom who was also sound asleep. Knowing his family was safe he started to look everywhere, inside and outside, of the house, for remaining Watchdogs, weapons, triggers or even bombs but they had retreated to whatever hole they came from. Robbie let out a relieved sigh; at least they were safe for the night.

He crumpled the note he had left for Daisy and tossed it in the trashcan, rid himself of his clothes and carefully replaced the pillow with his body again. He held her as close as he could and felt her snuggle into him, still fast asleep. He placed his hand protectively on her bump, his heartbeat finally calming down and syncing up with hers. It was better to keep her in the dark, right? At least for a while until he could come up with a better plan, that was what he was trying to convince himself at least, and he hated himself for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think! I have almost completed chapter 9 as of now so there will be plenty to upload. Until next time!


	7. Chapter 7

Daisy pulled her hair from the collar of her green-with-black striped shirt and pulled the hem down over her bump; the material was stretchy enough to encompass her growing stomach but she wasn’t sure for how long. She had already given up on her old jeans, her bras, her boots and her poor stealth suit that was gathering dust in the closet. She leaned over where Robbie was sitting, resting her forearms on the back of the couch, “Why are you looking at real estate?”

Robbie jumped up and almost dropped his phone, Daisy was fast and took his phone from him and looked at what he was scrolling through.

“Hey! I was just looking…”

Daisy frowned, “You don’t just look at houses on the opposite of the country without a reason. Texas? New York? _Alaska_?”

Robbie shrugged, “I thought maybe a nicer neighborhood for her to grow up in, better schools…”

Daisy gave back his phone and joined him on the couch, and said “Robbie, this neighborhood is fine, the schools are fine and we don’t have to worry about better schools for a long time!” She put her hand on her belly and maneuvered her legs so she could sit cross-legged.

“I know… I just want her a safe place to grow up in, this neighborhood is fine but it can be better…” In truth he wanted to get as far away from that particular Watchdogs group he had encountered the night before.

“I am not sure we are the white picket fence kind of people, Robbie, and I am not sure I want to be.”

Robbie shrugged, “To tell you the truth, I have been worrying how we are going to function as a family once she gets here, it is going to be fine when she’s still a baby, but once she gets older and has to go to school and all the activities that comes with it... then how are we going to do that with one of her parents wanted and the other… well the Ghost Rider?”

Daisy sighed, “I haven’t figured that part out either, it’s tough! I don’t know how we are going to do it. Like, they know me at the hospital as Jessica Charles, but how long can I keep that up? And what if they recognize my face or something and I am giving birth, what if I won’t be able to control my powers, or there are complications and police get there and they won’t let me see her and…” Daisy started to ramble and Robbie could see she was starting to panic.

“Hey, whoa _chica_ , it’s okay, we are going to be okay. I won’t let that happen, I promise.” Taking her hands in his and resting them together on her bump, he slowly leaned in and touched his forehead with hers.

Daisy let out a deep breath, and calmed herself down. “Okay, you’re right. I will quake anyone who even comes near her with bad intentions, I don’t know why I suddenly freaked out.” She leaned back again, muttering something about hormones under her breath.

Robbie squeezed her hands, “You’re a mama bear.”

Daisy chuckled, “Shut up.”

Robbie shrugged, “You totally are.”

“Okay, I guess I’ll embrace it. But…”

“But what?”

“I am not ready for… this.” As she tapped on his discarded phone, “I might be willing to talk about it in the future but we have just finished the nursery! And what about Gabe?” She shook her head, “Everything is already moving so damn fast, I need a little breather.”

Robbie nodded sympathetically, “Okay, we will take it slow.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it, Robbie,” she said genuinely.

“I know, I was just curious.”

Daisy traced his jaw with her hand and gave him a soft kiss. “Do you ever wonder about our lives and how it would be if this....” as she patted her belly, “...never happened?”

“Sometimes. It’s weird to think about.”

“Do you think we’d even be together? Or still hooking up?”

“Well, you returned because you found out that you were pregnant, do you think you had returned otherwise?”

“Honestly?”

Robbie nodded.

“I don’t think so. I would’ve just… ran away and go defeat Watchdogs somewhere else.”

Robbie chuckled, “Well I am glad you’re knocked up, then.”

Daisy let out a laugh, “Me too.”

* * *

Today had been miserable for Robbie, the heat was unbearable, he had been stuck in traffic and he had to deal with so many angry and whiney customers that he didn’t even had time to do some actual work. Then he had spotted some Watchdogs just outside the garage, or at least he thought they were. He wasn’t sure if he was going crazy or they were keeping an eye on him, but if they weren’t getting close to his house, he was going to keep his end of the deal and let it go.

It had been two weeks after the secret meeting with the Watchdogs, and it was starting to get hard keeping it to himself, especially since Daisy got more intel and he had to act on it. He’d either go back to the garage and work on the cars when it was darker and a little cooler or he would just sit in a parking lot and listen to music, either way it always felt weirdly like he was cheating on her.

Robbie wiped the sweat from his brow, quickly entering the house and closing the door behind him. He expected the relieving cool air of the air-conditioning but instead was met with the same heat as outside. “Why is it so hot in here?” he called out. Daisy came from around the corner, her dark hair in a high ponytail with the loose strands sticking to the sides of her face, and she was wearing a flowy summer dress that didn’t look like it relieved her much of the heat. She looked almost as miserable as he felt. “I couldn’t get it to work, I am going out of my mind! I thought I would be able to fix it, but it turns out air-conditioning is a lot different than hacking computers.”

Robbie groaned, “Okay, I’ll take a look.”

Daisy frowned, “Hi, by the way.” And put her hands on her hips.

“Hi, hey, I am sorry. Long day.” He replied and walked over to her and gave her a quick kiss and brushed his hand along the curve of her belly, a habit he picked up since she started to show, just to say a quick hello to the baby too. “I am going to check on the air-co.”

“Thanks.” She answered, “I’ll start on dinner.”

Robbie just nodded and kneeled down to the machine, trying everything to just get the damn thing to work. The only air it would emit was hot air, blasting right in his face. He cursed and stood up, giving it a good kick. Suddenly, it made a different noise and the hot air was starting to feel cooler and cooler. He shook his head and chuckled to himself as he reveled in the cool air stream. “Daisy!” he called out.

She came around the corner and smiled at him, “You got it to work?” He just gestured for her to come closer and she did, letting out a relieved sigh. She put her arms up and rested them on the top of her head, and closed her eyes. “Thank god you’re a mechanic.” She breathed out.

Robbie smirked, “I honestly just kicked it.”

Daisy opened her eyes again and looked at him, she let out a chuckle “You kicked it?”

“Yeah, which means something is wrong with it so it probably has to be fixed or replaced. So another big expense.” He huffed followed by a big yawn, “I’ll figure something out.”

“Thank you,” she said, when feeling the house slowly cool down, “I’ll go back to cooking. Well, back to making mac-and-cheese... so not really ‘cooking’ but I was craving it.”

Robbie had to refrain himself from saying ‘again?’ as they had been eating a lot if lately, he loved it like any other would but was quickly getting sick of it.

“My day was fine, by the way.” Daisy said as she put the ingredients together in a pan.

Robbie rubbed the back of his neck, “Sorry I was just about to ask.”

Daisy shook her head, “It’s fine, I actually found a new source and there are some Watchdogs meetings tonight, I thought we should check it out. See if it is something to worry about.” She stirred the mac and cheese, it was almost hot enough to serve.

Robbie sat down at the kitchen table and rubbed his face, “Can I just… No never mind.” He said irritated and let out a big sigh.

Daisy looked over her shoulder, “No, tell me.”

“Can I just _please_ have one damn night off?! For once! I know this is important but I am so damn tired, I have been working so many shifts this week and I was just looking forward to _one_ quiet night, watching the game in a cool house with my girl without having those damn Watchdogs interrupt!” he ranted. Seeing the look on Daisy’s face he realized how harsh he had sounded.

Daisy stayed silent and filled the bowls with the food and put it in front of him. She sat down next to him with her bowl, stirring the cheesy-goodness, and sighed “you’re right.”

“No, I shouldn’t have snapped at you, I am sorry,” he replied, “Today just _sucked_.”

Daisy looked at how he was playing with his food, “You were also probably hoping for something different than mac-and-cheese again, weren’t you?”

Robbie let out a breathy laugh, “Maybe.”

“You know what, just leave it. I’ll order us some pizza and you just relax. You do deserve it, Robbie.”

“You don’t have to do that, I can eat the mac-and-cheese.”

Daisy shook her head, “No, go sit on the couch and tell me what pizza you want.”

Robbie let out a grateful sigh, “Thank you, pepperoni please.”

* * *

“Come on, Robbie,” Daisy said, her hands in the pockets of her denim overalls she had been wearing a lot these couple of days, combined with either her favorite striped shirt or a simple grey one, and some black Converse. It made her look extra homey to him.

“I’m coming,” he replied. She finally got her wish and they had gone to the goodwill he had promised her. He was still wary of the Watchdogs he had met on that fateful day, but they seemed to have disappeared, at least from the parking lot and the alley he had met up with them. Robbie climbed out of the car and closed the door behind him.

Daisy grabbed his hand and led him to the entrance of the building. They tried to refrain from much public affection, still having to be careful if someone of the public recognized them. But since Daisy had stopped going after the Watchdogs herself they hadn’t shown her face much in the news, which helped.

“You are really excited by some old junk,” Robbie said amused as Daisy let out an audible gasp when they entered and the familiar sighting of stuff and especially the smell came towards them.

“I love it, reminds me of the days before S.H.I.E.L.D. and I had to make do with the things I had,” she explained as they browsed the aisles.

“Look,” Robbie said, “they still have our old chair. Should we buy it back?”

Daisy frowned at the ugly thing, “Hell, no.”

It was the chair Daisy had to practically beg Robbie to get rid of. It was ugly and old and wasn’t used much as it was moved to the spare room that was now the nursery.

“But it’s so comfortable,” Robbie jokingly whined. Daisy grabbed his hand again and tore him away from the large furniture and into the kids’ corner.

Robbie wasn’t far off when he had said it wasn’t worth going as it was all junk. The toys were either old faded plastic play sets from at least the ‘80s, or torn books and Barbie’s with their plastic hair cut off. Until he heard Daisy gasp and squeeze his hand. “What?” he asked. Instinctively looking around for anything that could mean danger. But Daisy just pointed as she slowly walked towards the shelf with stuffed animals, one faded snout next to the other. Robbie followed and watched her pick up a medium sized white bunny plush with floppy ears and black button eyes. It looked older, nothing like the arguably cuter stuffed animals they were producing these days but Daisy looked to be enamored by it.

“This is exactly the stuffed bunny I used to have as a kid, it was the first and only thing I really had that was _mine_ and it got lost at a foster home”, She said with a tremble in her voice.

Robbie’s heart broke every time she opened up about her childhood as an orphan, picturing her alone and afraid in one of those homes. She stroked the white fur of it, playing with the plastic whiskers and squeezing its paws. “I can’t believe I found it, it’s probably not the _exact_ same as I had but…” she held it against her chest momentarily and put it in the basket Robbie was holding. Robbie grabbed her by the hip and gave her a sideway hug, kissing on top of her head. Daisy quickly wiped the tear that was rolling down her cheek with her sleeve and let out a chuckle, “Look at me crying over a stuffed animal.” Robbie grabbed her hand again and gave it a reassuring squeeze, knowing that it was the sort of comfort she needed, and led her through the other aisles with toys, not that anything could ever match up to the piece of Daisy’s childhood they had found.

Daisy went through the XL-men’s shirts, hoping to find something she could wear around the house or sleep in while her middle was still ever expending. “Hey Robbie,” she called out. Robbie turned around and shook his head. Daisy was holding an old faded black shirt with a print of a skull on fire, “It’s you.” She laughed at her own joke and hung it back.

“You’re not getting it?” he retorted. 

Daisy shrugged, “Have the real thing at home, that’s enough for me.” They ended up only getting a few large rock band shirts for Daisy, a surprisingly nice denim jacket for Robbie, a few classic children’s reading books and of course Daisy’s priced possession in the form of a stuffed bunny. 

When they loaded the car with the new stuff, Daisy had grabbed the bunny and put it on her lap, absentmindedly playing with its fur. Robbie looked at the backseat of the car at all the stuff they had gotten and shook his head; “It’s going to look pretty funny with a baby seat in the back.”

Daisy smirked, “Yeah. Also another thing we still gotta get.”

Robbie sighed, “ _Si…_ So what do you wanna do now?”

Daisy bit her lip, her stomach audibly rumbling. “Let’s get some food.”

Robbie fastened his seatbelt, “I like the way you think.”

* * *

Life continued like normally, or at least it did for Daisy. Robbie tried to get used to a new normal, he still had to pretend that he was going after the Watchdogs, but instead just got back to his work and gave Daisy back a false rapport. He still hated it and tried to give her as little of detail as he could, just enough so she’d be satisfied with his answer and he could go back pretending like nothing has happened.

Robbie parked his car, and looked at the clock on his dashboard: it was already 12 a.m. He almost started to miss actually defeating some of those damn Watchdogs instead of pretending, when he suddenly spotted some figures in the dark near his home. He slowly got out of his car and walked towards the shadows he had spotted. Suddenly he felt the Ghost Rider tug again, signaling that these were not good people.

Robbie grunted, “Who are you?” The two men, clad in dark clothes and one of them smoking a cigarette, just smirked and shrugged. Normally Robbie could keep his cool, but after all the trouble he went through of lying, avoiding and deceiving the ones he loved most, just to keep them safe, the Watchdogs clearly didn’t keep their end of the deal by staying away. Robbie felt the Rider begging to let out and he just let go, and let Ghost Rider take control. The two men staggered back as he saw the skin of Robbie slowly burn and reveal the infamous skull with flames shining through.

Before they even had the time to yelp, the Ghost Rider had grabbed one of them by the neck, the cigarette still dangling from his lips, and let the man dissolve in his hands. Robbie turned to the other one but he managed to escape by jumping on his bike and riding off.

Robbie quickly took control again and started to curse to himself. He knew the deal was now off and no one was safe. Robbie hurried into the house. The lights were all off, meaning Daisy had already gone to bed and was asleep. He ran up the stairs, thanking god that Gabe was staying over at their uncle Eli’s in New Jersey for a few weeks. He got into their bedroom and indeed saw Daisy fast asleep in one of his shirts with the sheets kicked at her feet. He squatted next to her and gently shook her awake, “Daisy, Daisy… You have to wake up.”

Daisy grumbled and slowly opened her eyes, she smiled at him “Hey, you’re back, How was-“ but before she could finish her sentence Robbie interrupted her. “I can’t explain right now, but we have to go. Right now!”

Daisy frowned, “What? Why?”

Robbie stood up as Daisy tried to sit upright, “Robbie what are you talking about?”

Robbie turned the lights on and got some duffle bags, pulled open the drawers of the dresser and quickly started dropped clothes into a bag. He gestured at another bag and pleaded “Please just… put on some clothes and grab your essentials - we have to _leave_.”

“You can’t just wake me up at,” she looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand “12:18 am and expect me just get up and leave without an explanation!”

Robbie stopped dropping clothes into the bags and took a deep breath, “I promise I will explain in the car, I just need to get us into safety.”

“Robbie…” she tried again.

“It’s the Watchdogs, okay! They’re coming, _soon_ , and we need to get out of here!”

Daisy started to get pissed off, knowing he clearly had been keeping stuff from her but followed his instructions anyway. She had never seen him this distressed before. She grabbed the clothes she had been wearing the day before, which were a simple black hoody and a pair of black leggings to match, and put them on. She started to pull her own clothes from the dresser and got their stuff from the bathroom, dumping them into one of the duffle bags too.

Robbie left her to do her thing, knowing she was more than pissed off, but relieved she listened, so they could get out of here as soon as possible. He didn’t know where they should go, but it had to be somewhere far away so they could come up with a plan. He knew that if they’d stuck around, they were going to be ambushed and he knew he’d survive it but even with Daisy and her quake powers they had a big chance to get outmatched. He did not let himself think of what could happen to the baby, and packed the denim jacket they got at goodwill the other day.

Robbie hurriedly walked to get some more bags and paused at the opened door of the nursery. He put his hand on the doorframe and let out a big sigh, it was so perfect, even in the dim lights of the hallway. He took a few seconds to just observe the room they had put together with so much love, and wished they would be able to return. He suddenly spotted Daisy’s beloved bunny, looking fluffy from the washing she lovingly had done by hand, and quickly grabbed it from one of the shelves above the crib. He put it in the bag he retrieved from the closet and got back to Daisy, who was dumping the last of their stuff, mainly charging cables and at last her laptop. She closed the zipper, looked at Robbie and gave him a nod.

“Okay, let’s go.” Robbie grabbed most of the bags, not wanting her to carry the heaviest ones, and made his way to the front door. Daisy turned off all the lights and closed the front door behind her as Robbie was already putting the stuff in the trunk. Luckily there weren’t any of the Watchdogs there yet, so they had at least a little of a head start if the Watchdogs decided to follow them. Daisy dumped the last of the duffle bags on the backseat and got into the car with Robbie. “You better explain to me what the hell is happening _right now!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, things are going to get intense from now on! Until next time!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, i decided to also upload chapter 8 this week as it is a little shorter (but it doesn't mean there isn't a lot happening)! Things are really getting dangerous for them now. Enjoy!

They had been on the road for over an hour now, Daisy had her head leaned against the car window and looked outside at the streetlights that seemed to blur into each other as they drove. There were barely any cars on the road at this time of night, making it even more of a surreal situation. Robbie was being his old stoic self, his knuckles white from clenching the steering wheel. He would sometimes glance at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. They had been arguing, she demanded an explanation but he just shook his head and promised her that he wanted to have at least an hour of driving under their belt before he was going to explain.

Daisy gradually felt less and less comfortable. Her back was aching from sitting in the same position for a long time and the baby had been kicking at her bladder. Daisy let out a hiss as another Braxton hicks’ contraction made her muscles spasm. Normally they didn’t hurt as much, sometimes she even barely noticed them but when she had to sit still for a long time they could get pretty bad.

Robbie looked at her, “Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

Daisy arched her back and put her hand on her lower spine, sending small vibrations to try and relieve the pain, but it didn’t do much to alleviate her aching back. “Can we please stop somewhere, I need to move around and also pee. It’s been over an hour, anyway. You promised me an explanation.”

Robbie looked at his pregnant girlfriend and let out a sigh, “Okay, we’ll stop at a gas station. But we have to be quick, okay?”

“Fine, whatever.” She answered, looking out the window again, wishing she were in her bed instead of an abandoned highway.

After a good fifteen minutes they finally saw a sign for a gas station nearby and Daisy sighed in relief. Robbie silently took a right turn and parked in one of the empty spots. Daisy quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, she moaned at the feeling of being able to stretch her stiff legs and ease the pain in her back.

“Please, stay close.” Robbie said as he watched her walk towards the public bathrooms.

Daisy turned around and folded her hands together, “Please sir, can I have your permission to use the bathroom?” she pleaded sarcastically and rolled her eyes before striding towards the bathrooms on the side of the building.

Robbie sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head as he swiped his credit card and started to fill the Charger with gas. He was trying to come up with a good way to tell her about his deal with the Watchdogs, he was sure she wouldn’t care much about their current predicament and more that he had lied to her to keep her safe.

Robbie suddenly heard a car coming towards the gas station. Normally, that wouldn’t alarm him as much, but he was extra careful now that they were on the run. The two men that drove up to him were eying his car and looked him up and down, and when one of them pulled his baseball cap backwards, Robbie felt the familiar feeling of the Ghost Rider wanting to make his presence known, “Damnit.” he cursed under his breath and looked if Daisy was still in the bathroom. They were obviously Watchdogs. He hadn’t expected them to be this close already.

Robbie pulled the gas pump handle from his car and hung it back, “What can I do for you?” he said, but before they could even answer, Robbie’s eyes started to glow and had let the Ghost Rider loose who was quickly able to grab them by their throats, crushing their spines in one fell swoop. As the last of the two let out a gurgling scream, Daisy had returned, and she watched the Ghost Rider drop the bodies onto the concrete floor, blood slowly mixing with the puddles of motor oil.

“Robbie. What. The. Hell!” she yelled out and came stomping towards him. Robbie had returned to his human form and brushed his hand through his short hair. “Watchdogs,” he simply stated, “They are following us. They are probably not the ones high up, because they attacked me, so they probably didn’t know I can’t... well, die,” and gestured at the surveillance cameras. “Can you quake those?”

Daisy looked at where he was gesturing and put her hand up and with a loud bang the cameras fell to the ground in pieces. “You have to tell me _now_ what is going on, Robbie! Or I am not leaving!”

Robbie walked to the back of the Watchdogs’ truck and pulled out a few semis, “Can’t you see how dangerous that is!” he yelled and dropped the clattering guns back in the trunk of the pick-up truck.

“I don’t care!” she answered, “You tear me out of bed without an explanation and just expect me to follow you no questions asked?! Don’t you hear how insane that is?”

Robbie opened the passenger seat door for her and encouraged for her to get in; he knew she had every reason to be upset but he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. “Get in the car and I will explain everything, once we get a motel or something. Please, I know it’s hard right now, but you _have_ to trust me, I only want us to get into safety.”

Daisy could still feel her blood boil but she couldn’t resist his dark pleading eyes and agreed to get in, “Promise me you will tell me. You owe me that much,” she said with a huff, and struggled to get back into the car, feeling her back already ache again from sitting back in her old position. “I promise.” Robbie replied and closed the car door for her and got in himself, leaving the bodies of the Watchdogs on the pavement, driving past them and back into the night.

* * *

It had been over three hours of driving after the last confrontation with the Watchdogs at the gas station. Daisy had fallen asleep with her face squished against the window of the car. Robbie had been aimlessly driving and they were still an hour away from Phoenix, not that it was his intended destination but he decided to follow random road signs and see where they would head to.

Robbie felt his eyes droop, the road in front of him blurring, and he knew that they had to find a place to stay to regain their strengths and come up with a plan. He had also somehow convinced Daisy to wait for an explanation until they had found a motel room. After twenty minutes or so, he found a sign that stated 24-hour cheap motel rooms, he sighed and followed the sign, parking the car in the far corner of the parking lot and observed the building in front of him. It looked like any cheap motel, nothing fancy about it, but it was good enough.

Daisy jostled awake from the car suddenly stopping and slowly opened her eyes, “Wha-?”

“I found us a motel, let’s go.” He simply stated and opened the car door to get their stuff from the trunk.

Daisy looked out the window at the motel and sighed, rubbed her eyes and hauled herself from the car. Robbie handed her some of the less weighty bags and she sleepily followed him towards the building.

It was still dark out and Daisy had no idea what time it actually was, her phone had already died an hour into their ride. Robbie was talking to the moody man behind the counter that they had probably woken up by ringing the bell on the counter, and saw him getting the keys for them. Daisy’s drowsiness slowly returned to her annoyed self as she followed Robbie up the wobbly stairs and into their room.

Robbie threw the bags in a corner, checking the place out for remaining Watchdogs and quickly going for a pee. Daisy set her phone to charge and seated herself on the uncomfortable double bed with a faded flower bedspread draped over it, and just stared at the pea-green closed curtains in front of her. Robbie returned to the room and looked at her.

“Tell me.” She simply stated, looking up into his tired dark eyes, not having the energy to get angry anymore.

Robbie rubbed his eyes and nodded, “Remember when I brought our old stuff to the goodwill?”

Daisy raised an eyebrow, as she didn’t expect for him to start there with his explanation and just nodded.

“I ran into two men eying the car. I first thought they were maybe car enthusiasts, but they made strange remarks and the Ghost Rider was signaling me that these were not good people.”

“Watchdogs.” Daisy concluded.

Robbie nodded, “ _Si_.”

“I didn’t do anything that day, I was trying to convince myself that it was just like I said, ‘car enthusiasts’. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it, it just didn’t sit right with me but I didn’t want to bother you with it, we had been having such a good day… and so the next day I decided to go back to the same place and check it out.”

Daisy didn’t need much explanation. The pieces of why he was behaving so strangely and being secretive now fell into its place. She swallowed, it already stung that he hadn’t told her and seeing where they were now… he wasn’t nearly done with his story.

“There were others, also Watchdogs, and they were waiting for me. They had figured out who I was in my human form and could trace it back to where you were. I got scared. They gave me an address to meet them that night at one in the morning and I did.”

“You _did?”_ she repeated, “Where was I?”

“Asleep.” He simply answered, “I snuck out.”

Robbie started to pace, recalling that fateful night. “I walked into an old factory building crawling with Watchdogs and I talked to their leader, he probably was the leader of the whole Los Angeles district, but I am not sure. Ghost Rider was burning, he wanted to just destroy everything and anyone in that building.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“He knew _everything_ Daisy. About our mission, about Gabe, our life together and they knew you were pregnant… So everything I feared came true.”

Robbie looked at Daisy’s shocked face and continued. “I went for the idiot’s neck, but just before I was choking the life out of him they showed me a live feed of… you.” He swallowed, “You were sleeping soundly in our bed with a sniper pointed right at you.”

Daisy’s eyes grew big, “ _What?_ ” she hissed.

“I let go of him, he wanted to make a deal. He would call back his gunmen and leave us alone in exchange for…” and swallowed, this was the part he was least looking forward to, “I would drop everything and stay out of their way. And I did.”

“So all this time when you went on mission? All those nights you came back exhausted - you _lied_ to me? What the hell were you doing?”

“I was at Canelo’s, working.”

Daisy got up from the bed and turned her back to him, needing time to process it all. She brushed her hand through her unruly hair, her sleep quickly forgotten and replaced with anger. Finally, she turned around again.

“You have been _lying_ to me for _weeks_! You were going _on and on_ about being a team and us having to do everything as a team!” She yelled and pointed, “You wanted me to tell you my story before you would be willing to take the next step but you just decided to keep this from me?! A gunman had threatened to kill me and you just decided to not tell me? And all this time they were able to start up their operation and _kill_ so many Inhumans and you just let it _GO?”_

“I know! I hated it too! But they knew my weak spot; I would never _ever_ put you in danger!”

“No, what you did, Robbie, was not _trusting_ me! You have made such a big deal about me needing to trust you and you…” she said with a tremble in her voice, “You don’t trust _me!”_

“Of course I do trust you! I just didn’t want to stress you out, I was looking out for the two of you!”

“No, you did not, Robbie, otherwise you would have told me. You thought I would put myself and the baby in danger if I knew, just admit it.”

Robbie looked at her silently, and then slowly nodded his head, “Okay. You know what? Maybe I did! Because you would have, if you want to admit it or not! I told you I didn’t want to fight them with you pregnant because it could lead them to our place and you wouldn’t be able to fight at full capacity but you _insisted!_ And I was a fool for going along with it! You RUN right into danger, Daisy!”

Daisy felt the tears stinging in her eyes, “So, what are we doing now then? Huh? We are running away from everything we have build over the last few months. That is not because of me Robbie, this is _your_ doing!”

Daisy let out a frustrated grunt, taking in the place where they were staying; the brown carpet, the yellowed walls and the dirty green curtains and it made everything so much more real all of a sudden. “So what changed huh? Why _are_ they suddenly hunting us now?”

Robbie closed his eyes for a second and recalled, “I saw two of them stake out at our house and I lost it, they didn’t even keep their end of the deal and… I killed one of them, and the other was able to escape. I knew he was going to tell his buddies I broke the pact so we had to go.”

Daisy slowly nodded, rubbing her belly as the baby was kicking hard, triggered by her elevated heartbeat, “So all this time we were what? Playing house?”

“It wasn’t playing house, Daisy.”

“Then what was it?” She asked while raising her arms up in defeat.

Robbie now snapped too, “You tell me Daisy! You ran because I told you I loved you. I am scared to call you my girlfriend because you flinch and when I showed you my mom’s family engagement ring you looked you were about to bolt out of there.”

It was Daisy who was now pacing, “Whenever I make a commitment Robbie, whenever I even feel remotely settled... shit like this happens.” She said as she gestured around the room. “I felt safe, _happy_ even for the first time since… well I don’t know.” A lump in her throat started to form, “I was getting there, Robbie. I really was. Even with everything going on, this was the happiest I’d ever been.”

Robbie looked down at his feet and slowly nodded, “Me too.”

Suddenly the walls of the dingy motel room seemed to close in on her, she felt extremely claustrophobic and needed to get out and breathe, “I am going for a walk.”

Robbie looked up shocked, “ _What?_ You can’t right now, there are still Watchdogs looking for us! _”_

“Well, Robbie you may not have trusted me with it before, but I can take care of myself. Like I have done my whole damn life.”

Daisy pulled her leather jacket from the bed and put it over her hoodie, and pocketed her phone that was still barely charged. As she wanted to walk over to the door, Robbie blocked her. “Please don’t leave.”

“Robbie, I swear to god! If you don’t let me go right now!” and she held her hand up, threatening to quake him through the room.

Robbie put his arms down in defeat, “Please Daisy, don’t run. I am sorry, I really am. I shouldn’t have kept you in the dark. You deserved to know. Every fiber of my being was just trying to protect the people I… love. And I love you, if you want to hear it or not. Just please don’t leave right now.”

“You know what Robbie… I love-d you too.” She said softly with a wistful smile.

“ _Loved_?” Robbie repeated, his heart shattering into pieces.

Daisy opened the squeaking door of their motel room, “I just don’t know anymore, Robbie.” She said, wiping tears from her face. “I just… need to get out and think.”

“Daisy…” Robbie whispered.

“I’ll return.” she simply stated and disappeared into the dark.

* * *

Daisy slowly walked through the empty streets of whatever town they were in. She must’ve looked ridiculous with tears streaming down her face and her hair sticking up from all angles, but she just didn’t care. The last thing she expected of her life was to be walking lost in some place near Phoenix, 25-weeks pregnant and hunted by some damn Watchdogs. Not that her life was ever predictable but this was going to the top of the list that was for sure.

It had been hard for her to give her heart to someone after what happened to Lincoln, and Robbie knew that, so his betrayal of her trust hurt even more. He had felt safe from the start, not only because they shared the same darkness, but also because he was always honest with her. But after what he had just told her, apparently not so much. She sighed and looked at her phone, it was almost 5.30 in the morning and it was still pitch dark outside. Her phone was filled with messages from Robbie begging for her to return and talk about it. She had enough of talking, well, yelling really is what they had done. She turned her phone off again and put it in her pocket. 

A shiver ran down her spine, even though it wasn’t really that cold outside. She had been feeling chilly since she had started on her walk, but at least the baby was calmed down and rocked back to sleep by her slow and steady step. She ran her hand over her belly that was disguised by her- technically Robbie’s hoodie. “Your dad is an idiot,” she whispered out loud, and went to sit on a public bench on the side of a park. She shivered and put the hood up, and hid her face in her hands. She was contemplating on when she was going to return and how they were going to solve this, not just them as a couple but their quest in defeating those damn Watchdogs.

Daisy suddenly looked up as she heard leafs being rustled behind her, but it was just a maintenance worker on his early shift, clad in reflective jacket and a helmet. He gave her a nod as he started on emptying the trashcans. God, Robbie had made her paranoid. Without those stupid masks on the Watchdogs could be anyone. 

She stood up from the cold bench, deciding that even though she didn’t want to yet, the best thing was to go back and maybe try and catch some more sleep or whatever. 

More maintenance workers had started their shift as she walked back to the motel, and the hairs on the back of her neck started to rise. She may not be familiar with this town but she was pretty sure they don’t need that many people working on one park. _At five thirty in the morning._ Daisy picked up her pace as the men watched her leave. She suddenly felt a hand pulling her in from one of the bushes, but was quickly able to fight him off by turning his arm around and kicking him to the ground. Her center of gravity was pretty off from the new weight in the front, but she was still easily able to outmatch him. But as soon as she defeated the one, more of them came rushing towards her. She quickly quaked them back, their bodies slamming against parked cars. She felt another hand pulling her back and she kicked him full in the face, forcefully turning his arm around and hearing the satisfying crack of his bones.

“Stay back!” she yelled.

“You can’t outrun us forever!” The man groaned and howled in pain as she pulled his arm tighter.

“Then I will just destroy you all!” she exclaimed, as she used her free hand to again quake back a few others, their bodies meeting the concrete. Daisy panted, and she dropped the man she had been holding onto the ground. As she was about to send more of them flying, she suddenly felt a hard jab against the side of her head. Daisy let out a groan as her vision started to blur and quickly faded to black. With a smack she fell down onto the ground, her head meeting the pavement. The Watchdogs smirked and her unconscious body was quickly being picked up by the crippled men and stuffed in a van disguised as a maintenance truck, and drove off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah... Next chapter will immediately follow the end of this one and I'll spoil a little... we are going to see a lot more of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a short while!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, welcome back! This chapter was super fun to write and I just want to thank my beta Wlammy for being an amazing help! Enjoy!

Robbie had been pacing since Daisy left, his mind kept replaying their fight over and over. _Had he really screwed this up so bad that…_ he shook his head. He was determined to fix this; he was not giving up on his family, whatever it takes. He pulled his phone from the back pocket of his jeans again, hoping that he had somehow missed the buzz of a new message from Daisy, but still _nothing_. 

He sighed and sat on the bed. There were just no good options for him. He could either go after her, and piss her off because she wanted time alone, or stay where he was and worry sick about her being alone with potential Watchdogs everywhere. The thought of leaving her be, all alone, scared the crap out of him.

But that was the whole point of their fight wasn’t it? That he just couldn’t trust her to fend for herself. He never knew how overprotective he could be until Daisy had returned to him pregnant all those months ago. _God, she was right_ , she really was. Didn’t make him less worried about her alone on the streets at this time of night, though.

Robbie sighed and typed another message, and let himself fall backwards on the bed. His body was screaming for some rest, his body aching from the long car drive and lack of sleep, but his mind didn’t want to cooperate. He closed his eyes and hoped that she had went into some 24-hour diner or something and was sorrow-eating some cake, and that she would return in an hour. Miraculously he managed to actually fall asleep, albeit a fitful sleep, but still, _sleep._

* * *

Robbie startled awake and quickly sat up, and immediately called out for Daisy, hoping she had returned already, but no response. He cursed to himself, it had been over an hour and she still wasn’t back. He picked up his phone, still no messages or missed calls. A deep fear started to set in and Robbie got up from the bed. She could yell at him later, he thought, and picked up his leather jacket, zipped it up and left the motel. He was going to find her.

He had watched her leave through the window. She had gone into one of the streets, probably one of the main streets of this place by the looks of it. 

Robbie traveled down the stairs and made his way along the park. He started to pick up his pace, with his hands buried in the pockets of his jacket, when he suddenly heard a loud bang from far away and a yelp. He immediately sensed there was something seriously wrong and started running towards the sound. He saw men flying and he knew it had to be Daisy’s doing. He heard her faintly yell something and called out for her, but by the looks of it , nobody noticed him. Robbie saw Daisy being hit against the head with the back of an assault rifle, and when the men quickly picked her up, the Ghost Rider instantly came out. Sadly, he was too late and saw people dressed as maintenance workers toss her in the back of a van and drive off. He stood hopelessly by as his worst nightmare came true.

* * *

The first thing Daisy noticed when she came to, was her throbbing head. She wanted to put her hand on her forehead to find the source of the pain, but wasn’t able to move her arms; they were tied together. Slowly, the memories of a fight came back to her and she realized she had been punched unconscious and dragged and bound… somewhere. 

Her first instinct was to open her eyes and use her powers to send everyone flying, but she remembered her training and pretended to be still unconscious, so she could pick up on the conversations around her. By the sound of it, she was in a bit of an echo-y building, and there were several men around her. Their voices were muffled, so probably wearing masks. Watchdogs, of course, she thought, and decided to carefully peek through her eyelashes. She had been right, it was some sort of concrete building with small high windows and sharp fluorescent lights. There were several masked men standing guard, with their backs turned to her. 

Daisy tried to wiggle free but it was of no use. She looked down at her belly and remembered that she had made quite a fall. Her usually overactive baby was eerily quiet. No kicks to the bladder or rib, no little hiccups. Daisy’s heart started beating in her throat and she started to thrash around, trying to get a signal from her baby. “Please, please, please,” she continuously begged, keeping her voice down as well as she could. The guards must’ve heard her but they didn’t bother to turn around. Suddenly she felt a small tap from inside her womb, followed by a stronger one and Daisy let out a relieved sob. Okay, her little girl was okay, now they just had to get the hell out of there. Daisy opened her hands and tried to quake herself free.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” a deep voice boomed from somewhere, accompanied by footsteps approaching her, and Daisy halted her powers. She looked up and was met with a tall man without a mask. With his curly grey hair and comfortable sweater you could almost mistake him for a harmless guy, were it not for the hard look in his alert eyes. His hands were behind his back as if he was casually observing her. “Well, well, well... So _this_ is the much feared Quake,” he said, as he looked her up and down. “You don’t seem that powerful to me.”

“Wait until I use my powers on you,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Like I said, I wouldn’t do that if I were you”, he said calmly, and pointed at an object with a small meter on it, the cables connected to it leading to Daisy’s seat. The man leaned over for a moment, bringing his face close to Daisy’s, and explained: “We know about your powers, we aren’t stupid.” He stood back up, put his hands smugly in his pockets and continued, “The sensor on this thing can detect vibrations, from the smallest to well… the biggest quakes.”

Daisy just realized that the object in front of her was a freaking _bomb_.

“So any bigger vibrations than let’s say… a heartbeat, and this whole place will blow”, he stated.

“With all of you in it!” She retorted angrily.

“Something tells me that you won’t risk the life of… your _spawn_.” he said and glanced at her belly with disgust.

Daisy looked down at her belly too, he was of course right. Months ago she might’ve chosen to sacrifice herself to bring this whole operation down with all the Watchdogs in it, but now there was so much more at stake. “What do you want?” she demanded to know.

“Nothing much, just want your help.” 

“You want _my_ help?There is no way in hell! _”_

“Funny you should mention ‘hell’,” the man said with a smirk, “We figured a long time ago that your boyfriend, how do I put this... can’t die. But he is not inhuman like you, is he?”

Daisy rolled her eyes, “Wow, well done, detective.”

The man squinted at her sarcastic remark but shrugged it off, “So when we found out that he was massively loyal to his little family... well, that made it all too easy for us. He may not be able to lose his own life, but what we figured is that _you_ , his family, _is_ his whole life and well… we can make sure he loses _that_ life.”

“He is going to kill you if you even lay a finger on us, he is the _Ghost Rider_ for god’s sake!”

“That is why you are sitting here, we both know he is going to quickly figure out where we’re hiding and when he does… well, you’ll see.” And he turned around “For now, enjoy your stay.” Two steps with his long legs and he disappeared behind a door.

Daisy swallowed the bile in her throat down, his threats still resounding in her head. She wanted nothing more than to get out of these restraints and break the man’s neck, but she could see the tiny meter on the bomb move towards orange if she did as much as wiggle in her seat. She sat still and saw it immediately fall back into the green. “Damnit!” she cursed under her breath, and let her head drop, her hair falling like a curtain down her face. The only thing she could do right now is wait. Wait and listen.

* * *

It indeed hadn’t taken Robbie that long to find where the Watchdogs had been hiding, but still it took him most of the day and way longer than he had hoped. He knew they probably weren’t going to harm or kill Daisy, because why wouldn’t they have killed her right when they had the chance to? But he still wanted to get her out of there as soon as possible.

There were many Watchdogs scattered throughout the area, most were easily scared yet loyal and were willing to die for their cause. Robbie smoked several of them until the last one standing fell to his knees and confessed the whereabouts of their operation. Robbie simply knocked him out, and got into the Charger. The address he got was only a few hours away. He fired up the car and drove off.

When Robbie arrived, the sun had already set. He turned the engine off and observed the building; it kind of looked like the factory the L.A. district of the Watchdogs had their operation in, but smaller. Everything in him screamed to just get out of his car and kill everyone that even dared to threaten his family, but he was smart enough to know that it was probably a trap, or they had planned some sort of security measure for themselves, so he decided to be smart about it.

He got out of his car. The front of the building seemed abandoned, there were no security guards of any kind, and for a second he doubted if he had gotten the right address. He listened carefully; the building inside also seemed deserted. 

Robbie tore off the chain that was on one of the steel doors, breaking the lock in one fell swoop and laid it over his shoulder for later if necessary. The now opened door led to a flight of stairs, with light at the end of the tunnel (literally), and he knew he was close. As he descended the stairs, he finally came across some guards that were quick to raise their weapons at him. Robbie let the Ghost Rider free to do his thing and their bodies were soon scattered onto the ground, with their guns broken in half. It had alarmed the others though, and there were men yelling for back up coming towards him, but none of them were a match against a literal hell demon and were quickly taken out. 

When he had defeated most of them, he finally could look around the place. It was a big open space with boxes full of weapons, again much like he had seen in L.A. 

The difference with the L.A. Watchdog base was a small corner, not closed off, but partially hidden by the large support beams of the building. As Robbie smashed another one of the Watchdogs skulls to the ground he could make out a figure sitting onto a chair and he quickly realized it was Daisy. A sense of relief washed over him, seeing her alive, but there was large figure behind her, a man that seemed to not be worried at all that he was taking out this many of his men. Ghost Rider dissolved back into Robbie’s human form and he hurried towards her.

“Robbie! STOP!” Daisy yelled. All of the raucous was making the meter of the bomb move towards the orange again. Sweat was dripping down her forehead as she eyed the meter closely. Robbie had halted and it seemed as if all the Watchdogs had done the same.

“Let her go and I promise I won’t destroy all of you!” he grunted when he started to come closer, he could see she had dried up blood on her forehead and a busted lip but otherwise seemed okay.

“Robbie you seriously have to STOP! There’s a bomb!” Daisy pleaded.

Robbie halted again and looked at where she was looking at and indeed saw an object that could only be described as a bomb with wires connected to her chair. “Are you okay? Are you… is the baby –“ he stammered.

Daisy faintly smiled, “We’re okay,” she answered, “But this thing is set to blow when it detects vibrations.”

The deep voice of the apparent Watchdog boss echoed in the room when he sarcastically interjected “This is cute and all, but let me introduce myself, I am Axel.” His tall stature threw a shadow on Robbie. “Thank you for joining us, mister Rider, took you a little longer than I thought but alas.”

“Well you didn’t give me an address like your colleague did.” Robbie grunted.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize! It gave Quake and I some time to get acquainted, didn’t it?” Axel said in a feigned pleasant tone, and placed his large hand on Daisy’s shoulder, which she loathed, but with one eye on the vibrations meter, she decided to not shrug off.

“What do you want?” Robbie said matter-of-factly, his eyes focused on Axel’s hand on his seething girlfriend.

“Oh well, when I heard about your little deal with the L.A. group I was shocked by their lack of creativity. ‘Leave us alone so we will leave you alone’? How unimaginative. So when I got the call that you broke the pact and were heading our way with the instruction for us to kill… I thought of something better!”

“Like kidnapping and strapping me to a bomb?” Daisy asked sarcastically, “Wow. What a criminal mastermind,” she mocked Axel and looked at Robbie who just raised an eyebrow at the Watchdogs’ leader.

With anger briefly flashing on his face, Axel stared at Daisy and gave a kick to the chair’s leg, making the meter spike again.

“Are you _insane_?” Daisy hissed.

“Perhaps...,” Axel smirked, slowly relaxing his clenched fists, and added, “you have a lot more to lose than I do, and I think you know that.”

“ _What do you want?”_ Robbie repeated again, wanting nothing more than to behead this giant. He took a step closer, and the dozens of Watchdogs that were still alive took a step too, their guns still pointed at him.

“Go ahead,” Axel said as he held up his phone, “Come closer. I only have to push this button and we’re all dust.”

Robbie didn’t move, even though his blinding rage and the Ghost Rider told him to do the opposite.

Axel sighed dramatically, “Okay where was I? One can never finish a single thought in this place... Oh yeah, my informant, who you just killed, by the way,” and he callously gestured at a man with his spine removed on the ground, “such a waste of a perfectly good lackey... well, he told me that Quake here had been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and that _she_ was the one that was able to hack all our systems and crack the codes where we were meeting _every_ time. Very clever.”

“Can you come to the point, please?” Daisy impatiently interrupted.

“Relax,” he shushed her, “I just want to make a simple deal with you two. What I want is for you to give me the _complete_ list of Inhumans from the S.H.I.E.L.D. database. And don’t insult my intelligence by pretending you don’t know about it or can’t reach it. We are all well aware of the Sokovia accords.”

“So you can slaughter them all? No way,” Daisy protested, channeling all her energy into staying calm.

Axel, on the verge of losing his temper, responded, “Let me speak! And more importantly I want _you_ ,” as he pointed at Robbie, his eyes flaming with anger, “to kill Senator Nadeer with some help from the Ghost Rider, live on TV. With some flair, if you wish. I don’t care how you do it, just make it a spectacle.”

Robbie opened his mouth to speak, but a furious Daisy hissed, “Why would we _ever_ take you up on your deal?” 

Axel turned to Daisy and replied in a condescending tone “Well, because you are strapped onto a bomb… it’s really not that hard, my dear, try to keep up.”

“We will never, ever take you op on that deal!” Daisy grunted, trying to not shake in her chair.

“Are you sure? I mean your boyfriend is considering it.” Axel crossed his arms, demonstratively pretending to be fascinated by what Robbie was going to say.

Daisy looked at Robbie and saw the conflict on his face, “Robbie, listen to me! You can’t do it. It’s not worth it!”

“How is your life, _our baby’s life_ , not worth it?” Robbie exclaimed, almost pleading.

Daisy shook her head, her eyes shining with unshed tears, “He won’t keep his end of the deal! Don’t you see that! Why would he?”

Axel waved her off, “Now, now, miss Quake, of course I will keep up my promise. You two won’t serve me any purpose after, anyway. You have my word,” and put his sizable hand on his heart.

Daisy rolled her eyes, “Sure.”

“I am not risking your life, Daisy.” Robbie declared wistfully, “I won’t be able to live with it.”

“We are talking about dozens of lives, Robbie! People with families, children…” She shook her head and pleaded “If you do it, it will kick start the war against anyone that is different. He won’t keep his promise!”

“I am not risking your life! I am not risking the baby’s life!” he roared as he looked into her panicked brown eyes and turned to Axel who just stood by and watched. “I will do it, but you have to let her go.”

Axel sighed, “Well, that much was expected, but I obviously won’t let her go, not until you have completed your end of the deal and I am miles away from here.”

“You said you would let her go.”

“Yes, but again, _after_ you’ve completed your mission. I am not an idiot, Ghost Rider, she’ll quake this whole damn place to the ground.”

“I sure as hell will!” Daisy promised furiously, and looked back to Robbie, trying to make eye contact but he looked away from her, “Robbie, don’t do it. Please.”

“I have no choice.” Robbie stammered and turned to Axel, “What do you want me to do?” 

Axel grinned, but just as he was about to elaborate on his plan, sudden loud banging noises came from the top of the stairs, along with the sound of shots being fired. Many of the Watchdogs that were holding guard sprinted to where the noise was coming from, but were quickly shot or dismantled and fell to the ground. Axel looked in shock and staggered a few steps back, this clearly not being part of his plan. Robbie turned around and let himself slowly dissolve into the Ghost Rider, readying himself for whatever was to come.

Daisy swallowed as she saw the figures approaching and was stunned when she was met with very familiar faces. “ _Coulson_?” Daisy uttered incredulously.

Time seemed to freeze for a second.

Bewildered, and blinking twice, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes - the one he had been searching for _months_ was now suddenly sitting in front of him…, Coulson responded. _“Daisy?!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, finally S.H.I.E.L.D. has joined the party! I hope you guys enjoyed and until next time!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... a lot is happening in this chapter. I also added some sort of poster I made for this chapter (like a month ago lol). Enjoy!

“Not one more step!” Axel shouted, holding up his phone with his thumb hovering over the trigger button. His plan had been carefully constructed to keep Daisy and Robbie under control, but the sudden appearance by S.H.I.E.L.D. caught him off guard. May quickly got over her surprise of seeing Daisy, swung a Watchdog over her shoulder and with a loud crash he hit the ground. 

Coulson held both Axel and Robbie (who he only ever saw as the Ghost Rider) alternatingly under shot, while trying to determine who was the bigger danger of the two.

Daisy’s voice broke through the commotion when she urgently pleaded, “May, stop! The bomb is rigged to blow with vibrations, be careful!” and tilted her head in direction of the bomb.

Everybody halted their fighting and even the Watchdogs seemed to be careful now, taking steps back from where the bomb was located. Everybody turned to where Axel was standing. He had inched himself closer and closer to the door, making sure he would at least have a glimmer of a chance to escape. His hand was trembling when he held the phone in the air, his long arm keeping the phone out of reach of anyone foolish enough to try something. 

Robbie took a step closer but Axel took a step back. “Step away!” he yelled, his voice deep but shaky, “Or I’ll blow everyone to pieces, I don’t care!” Nobody moved, apart from the wounded Watchdog squirming by May’s feet. Guns were still in the air, being pointed at each other. “Let me go!” Axel demanded, and slowly nodded at the people, frozen on the spot, as he took the last few careful steps back. He made a run for it, and vanished through one of the back doors, his audible panting quickly growing fainter. The Ghost Rider glanced at Daisy, and when she gave him an encouraging nod, he followed Axel through the door, the burning shackles from the entrance tossed over his shoulder.

Mack cautiously hurried to the bomb, knowing he was probably the only one who could dismantle it right now, and opened the explosive carefully. He inspected the wires; luckily the mechanism wasn’t too sophisticated, he was able to tug on the right cables fairly quickly. The lights on the bomb faded to black, indicating that the bomb was defused, and Mack sighed in relief and gave Coulson a short nod. He then smirked and looked at Daisy who was finally able to get out of her restraints by using her powers, and stood up from her chair.

Daisy, still fuming, felt extremely high-strung from all her pent up anger and frustration and stood with her legs spread, the palm of her hand directed towards the ones that did this to her.

The Watchdogs quickly jumped back into fighting when they saw that the bomb was defused and May hauled them across the floor, ready to make them join their squirming and unconscious fellow Watchdogs. Coulson, however recognized the need for vengeance on Daisy’s face and pulled May to the side. Daisy acknowledged his gesture with a nod, glad he understood, and quaked all of the remaining Watchdogs a few feet through the air, all the while screaming in pure anger, and with a violent crash they flew against the concrete wall, and fell to the ground. 

Daisy panted and smiled at her former team, who suddenly had very shocked expressions on their faces, but before she could ask what was the matter, Coulson and Mack, who stood next to each other, raised their guns and pointed them to where she was standing. Daisy looked behind her and saw that Robbie in his Ghost Rider form had reappeared.

“Get away from her!” Coulson yelled. Daisy was about to ease their worries, when she felt a sharp pain and staggered back. Her eyes grew big when she recognized the feeling of a bullet penetrating her flesh; she looked down in shock and felt another bullet pierce her skin, and she fell to the ground with a searing pain in her shoulder. Fading voices called out for her, and the last thing she saw before everything went dark, were the blurry flames of the Ghost Rider’s skull. 

“Daisy!” Coulson exclaimed mortified. May turned around and saw the one Watchdog she had thrown when they arrived, holding a gun, still pointed to where Daisy had been standing. She rushed to him and kicked him square in the jaw; the man fell back to the ground, unconscious.

Mack was about to run to Daisy, but stopped dead in his tracks in astonishment when he saw the Ghost Rider picking her up, her body limp like a ragdoll with her feet and arms dangling from his hold. The hell demon hurried over to them with Daisy held firm in his grasp. Mack pointed his shotgun-axe at the Ghost Rider and yelled for him to let go of her, but Coulson put his hand on Mack’s shoulder and shook his head. The Ghost Rider was now right in front of them and Coulson holstered his gun, getting at what the hell demon was trying to do and opened his arms, and took Daisy from Robbie and gave him a nod.

“Quick!” Coulson yelled as he held his long lost agent in his arms, someone he once described as the closest thing he had to a daughter. She was extremely pale and the blood was soaking through her hoodie and onto his suit.

“I’ll go!” Mack stated and quickly took Daisy from Coulson’s arms, knowing that he was probably the strongest and quickest to get her out of there. The Ghost Rider walked over to the remaining Watchdogs, many of them unconscious. As Coulson followed Mack and May to where the Zephyr was, he looked over his shoulder and saw the brutality in how the Ghost Rider was going through the Watchdogs, showing no mercy in killing them one by one. The screams echoed through the building as they left.

* * *

Jemma yelped shocked when she saw Mack enter the plane carrying an unconscious Daisy, “What the hell happened?” she exclaimed as Mack put her on a gurney.

“We just found her, she was at the Watchdog compound - she got shot twice in the shoulder area, I think.” 

Jemma signaled Mack with a nod that she’d take it from there, and immediately went into serious doctor mode and asked May for assistance. From the adjacent trolley with medical supplies, she pulled a pair of scissors, and cut Daisy’s oversized hoodie open for clear access to the gunshot wound. She let out a gasp when she saw the round belly of her long lost friend and halted her actions for a second. She stared at May who looked as stunned as she was, then to Coulson and Mack who were standing by the gurney, flabbergasted as well. Obviously none of them knew about Daisy’s current predicament. Jemma shook off her astonishment for now, exclaiming, “I need to do an ultrasound! Can you keep pressure on her wound?” May nodded dutifully and followed Jemma’s instructions. Luckily there was an exit wound, meaning the bullets had gone completely through, so nothing remained inside Daisy’s body.

Jemma pulled the ultrasound machine up, they never really needed it but it was always standard to have it on board. She toggled the machine on and placed the probe on Daisy’s belly, moving it around in the search for life. It remained eerily silent, until Jemma let out a relieved sigh when she detected a fetus moving on the screen. Soon after, the plane was filled with the sound of quick swooshing of the baby’s heartbeat. “I am moving her to the O.R.”, Simmons stated, and rolled the gurney to the spot on the plane especially designed for emergency surgeries, leaving the team alone, worried and perplexed.

“Did you know?” May stammered.

Coulson shook his head and turned around. “Where are you going?” May wanted to know, when she saw Coulson leave.

Coulson briefly glanced over his shoulder, “Don’t leave yet,” he answered, “and make sure the containment module is ready.”

* * *

The rhythmic high-pitched sound of a heartbeat filled the medical pod, assuring Coulson, who had been sitting next to her since Jemma was done operating on her, that she was still alive. Daisy had been wheeled out of the makeshift O.R. on the Zephyr half an hour ago. Luckily the bullet wounds weren’t as serious as when she had first been shot in the gut all those years ago. This time around, Daisy’s wounds had been quickly cleaned and stitched up and her chances of survival were astronomically better than the first time she had been shot. Jemma had used mostly local anesthetics to keep the baby’s heartbeat up, and put Daisy on an IV bag with fluids to battle any dehydration and some painkillers. Jemma told Coulson she would be waking up soon, before she left to update the rest of the team.

Coulson was sitting next to Daisy, staring. He sighed, and looked at her sleeping face, her complexion almost matching the white pillow her head rested on. She looked so fragile with the IV drip that was going into her arm and all of the tubes connected to her unconscious body.

Camouflaged by the black hoodie she had been wearing, nobody had noticed that she was pregnant at the warehouse, but now in a hospital gown and under a white sheet, the roundness of her belly was _very_ noticeable. Jemma had estimated her to be somewhere in the late stages of her second trimester. Daisy suddenly started to stir, her fingers twitching and her eyes slowly opened. Coulson sat closer and reached for her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

“Hey.” she rasped, quickly assured of her safe surroundings as she saw Coulson sitting beside her.

Coulson gave her his trademark soft smile, his blue eyes sparkling, “Hey.” he simply answered, feeling relieved she had finally woken up.

Daisy blinked and tried to sit up, hissed in pain, and moved her hand to her belly. With a panic in her big brown eyes, she whispered “My –“

“The baby is fine.” Coulson quickly reassured her before she could even ask.

Daisy exhaled, feeling very relieved, and gave him a nod. She let herself fall back onto the pillow and brushed her hand along the curve of her bump. “What happened?”

“You got shot, twice, in the shoulder. You have a hairline fracture in your collarbone but the bullets went completely through, so you’ll recover fairly quickly.”

Daisy let out another relieved breath and let her head drop to the side. She stared at Coulson, waiting for more questions, but he remained quiet, with a gentle smile still on his face. With her eyebrows raised slightly, she finally asked “Don’t you have anything to say?”

Coulson’s smile widened, and he shook his head, “Nothing to say, I am just glad you’re safe.”

Daisy smiled back, feeling immediately home in his presence and looked around. This was giving her flashbacks from the first time she had been shot, and was forced to stay in a hospital bed. “Where’s Robbie?” she inquired, wondering why she had not seen him yet.

“Robbie?” Coulson asked confused.

“Yeah he was with us, he was… _oh_.”

“What?”

“He’s the Ghost Rider.”

“You mean the man with the flaming skull?” Coulson asked incredulously.

“Yeah, well…”

“We have him in the containment module.”

Daisy smiled, glad he was close and not left somewhere at the warehouse, “Can you please get him for me?”

“Why?” Coulson answered puzzled.

“Please, I just… well… he’s the father.” Daisy stammered, and rubbed her belly.

It was the second time today for Coulson to be perplexed - he stared at her midsection, his eyes growing big, “That _hell demon_ is your baby’s father?”

“Well, he isn’t always a hell demon.” She retorted.

“He is right now.”

“What do you mean? Hasn’t he turned back?”

“Turned back to what?”

“Human.”

Coulson shook his head.

“Please just… let him go, so I can see him. Can you do that for me?”

Coulson slowly nodded, giving her hand a quick squeeze before letting go and stood up, exiting the pod. Mack walked up to him with a concerned frown, “How is she? Simmons said she’d wake up soon.”

Coulson frowned, deep in thought, “She’s good but she’s asking for the release of well… _him_ ,” and pointed at the containment module.

Mack’s eyes followed the direction of Coulson’s gesture, looked at the pod where Robbie, still as the Ghost Rider, was pacing around, and protested “Hell no! We are not letting that creature out, are you insane?”

“Coulson…” May interjected, her arms folded “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Coulson ignored both of them and walked up to the pod. The Ghost Rider was now standing still and staring through the window. Coulson gave him a nod and put in his code on the tablet in front, and the sliding doors opened. 

The Ghost Rider didn’t waste anytime to get out, and looked around. Coulson just simply pointed at where Daisy was residing, and followed the hell demon who hastily made his way over to her. The Ghost Rider fully ignored the others that took a step back when a loud sound of scorching fire was heard, and the terrifying image of a flaming skull slowly formed into a human. Robbie let out a grunt, rubbed his face, and pushed a button that opened the door to the medical pod where Daisy was waiting for him.

Robbie smiled as he saw her and quickly walked up to her, gingerly cupping her face in his rough hands, and gave her a firm kiss. Daisy put her hands on his hands and reveled in the reunion, a tear of relief escaping from the corner of her eye.

“Hey,” she whispered and smiled.

“I am so glad you’re safe,” he answered, his voice not quite steady, “How’s the baby?”

“She’s fine, we’re fine.”

Robbie let out a relieved sigh and kissed her again. “I am so sorry,” he said as he brushed his thumb along her scuffed cheekbone. “I shouldn’t have… I couldn’t…”

Daisy shook her head, “It’s okay, it’s okay.” she reassured him, her weak fingers brushing his hair back. He kissed the palm of her hand and laid it back on her belly.

Robbie sat down on the edge of the bed, he let out a deep breath and placed his hand on her bump, lovingly stroking the curve. “Hi little one,” he said softly. They sat together in silence for a few minutes, trying to process everything that had happened to them in a short time, and Daisy started to doze off a bit.

“He escaped,” Robbie murmured.

“Who did?” Daisy asked, her brain still foggy.

“Axel, he weaseled his way out of there.”

“Ah,” Daisy said, “We’ll get him.” she promised optimistically, stifling a yawn.

“We’ll help,” another voice sounded from behind them. Coulson was standing in the doorway of the med pod, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. “I promise I haven’t been standing here this whole time.” he added in response to their startled faces.

Daisy gave him a warm smile, realizing how much she had missed his presence in her life. “I was meaning to ask, how did you find us?”

“We weren’t actually looking for you, we followed a lead and knew that there was a big Watchdogs gathering there and we went to check it out and then we found you… and you… well you in your inhuman form.”

Robbie shook his head, “I am actually not an Inhuman.”

Daisy waved it off, “It’s a long story.”

“Knock, knock!” a chirpy voice came paired with a knocking sound against the glass.

Daisy smiled, “Jemma. Hi.”

“I just came to check on my patient, or should I say _patients_...” and she glanced at Daisy’s belly where Robbie’s hand was still resting.

Daisy smiled awkwardly, “Thanks Jemma, you’re literally a life saver.”

Jemma squeezed past Coulson through the doorframe and stuck out her hand to Robbie, “Hello, I am doctor Jemma Simmons.”

Robbie took her hand and shook it, “I am Roberto or Robbie… Reyes. I’m Daisy’s… um…”

“He’s my boyfriend.” Daisy confirmed for him. Robbie looked at her and gave her a tender smile. It was the first time she referred to him as her boyfriend, ever.

Jemma smiled to the both of them and checked the drip, “Don’t worry, it is just a fluid drip, you were quite dehydrated.”

“I know, gives me Braxton hicks’ contractions, and makes her unhappy.” Daisy said as she patted her belly, hissing as she momentarily forgotten the pain in her shoulder.

“You’re having a little girl?”

“Err... Yeah, we’re having a girl.”

“Congrats.” Jemma said with a smile.

Daisy wasn’t oblivious. She knew Jemma was upset by her leaving S.H.I.E.L.D., and by keeping something as important as having a baby from her. She was being extra chipper to mask it but Daisy didn’t have the energy to confront her with it, not yet.

Coulson smiled with kind eyes from the doorframe and interrupted the scene. “I think we can leave Daisy to rest a bit more.”

“Where are you taking us?” Robbie asked, knowing the plane he was on had been in the air for a while now.

“To the base.” Coulson simply answered.

“Coulson, I… There’s a lot you guys don’t know.”

“We’ll talk about it when we get to the base, just get some rest, okay?” he assured her.

Daisy smiled, too tired for any discussion. “Okay.”

Jemma gave her a nod and exited the med pod. She glanced at Mack, he had his arms folded and leaned against one of the walls. “She’s okay, Mack.”

Mack nodded, “What do we know about the guy she’s with?”

Jemma shrugged, “Just that he’s the boyfriend and the father of the baby.”

“And that he has a flaming skull…” he muttered under his breath.

Jemma placed her hand on his bicep, “He doesn’t seem that bad. Looks like they really care about each other.”

Mack frowned, and looked at Daisy in the med pod. “We’ll see.”

Jemma just shook her head and let Mack be.

* * *

Daisy startled awake, in her nightmare she was right back in that weird factory place, bound to that chair as she had to watch how the Watchdogs killed her whole team, and everything was blown to pieces by the bomb. She gasped for air and slowly regained full consciousness and tried to calm her heartbeat as she had realized where she was, safe within the Zephyr. She wiped off what felt like either sweat or tears of her face and let out a deep sigh.

It must have been quite late, the lights had been turned off but the machines around her created enough light for her to see where she was. Daisy looked down and saw the dark top of Robbie’s head. He was sitting on a chair but his upper body was leaned over, his head resting on his arms on the side of her matrass. It was endearing and made her smile; he must’ve fallen asleep. Daisy brushed her fingers through his short dark hair and gently tugged at his ear. “Hey, Robbie,” she whispered.

Robbie was the one now that startled awake and sat up, looking a bit disoriented for a second before grinning at her, “Oh hey,” he answered her, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said with a soft smile, “Didn’t they give you a bed to sleep in?”

Robbie smiled, “They did, but I didn’t want to leave you.”

Daisy chuckled, “Sap.”

“Why aren’t we at the base yet?” she wondered.

“I suggested we make a detour so we could pick up our stuff left at he motel, they picked up Lucy too.” Robbie explained while rubbing his eyes.

Daisy nodded, “Makes sense.”

Robbie bend over and grabbed something near his feet, “Couldn’t leave this guy behind.” he said with a smirk, and placed Daisy’s childhood bunny on her lap.

Daisy gasped in delight, and played with the stuffed bunny’s legs. “Thank you!”

Robbie gave her a nod and groaned as he stretched his strained arms and back, it not being the most comfortable way to sleep.

“I have a surprise for you too,” Daisy said and opened her hand to him. Robbie frowned and placed his hand in hers that she moved to her belly. “She had been doing this but it wasn’t really a great time to tell you, being kidnapped and all.” she joked darkly.

Robbie wasn’t sure what she meant until he felt a small tap against the palm of his hand. He gasped, “That’s her?”

Daisy nodded, “Sure is.”

“ _Maravilloso …”_ He replied. Grinning as he felt another tap, followed by another one and another one. “She’s active!”

“Yeah, I prefer her kicking outwardly than inwardly, to be honest.”

Robbie slowly nodded, laying his cheek against the bump, “I can imagine, yeah.” He kept silent for a while, fascinated by his daughter greeting him for the first time, but the tapping slowly calmed down after a while.

“I think she’s fallen asleep.”

Robbie nodded, sat back up, and removed his hand from her warm belly. “What’s going to happen once we are at the base?”

“I have no idea, but I trust them.”

“They seem to really care about you.” Robbie remarked.

“I care about them too, seems like S.H.I.E.L.D. follows me wherever I go. Whether I want them to or not,” Daisy said and lost herself deep in thought. She felt guilty and didn’t feel like she deserved their forgiveness, especially not Coulson’s, but they took her back in like a lost pet that was chipped and picked up from wherever it had run off to. She then pensively remarked, “We still have to talk about our fight, I know a lot happened but I don’t want anything hanging between us, unspoken.”

Robbie nodded, “I agree, Daisy, but let’s not tonight.”

Daisy agreed and pulled the blankets to the side, “Join me.” she eventually said.

“In the bed? What about your shoulder?”

“It’s okay, I’ll scoot over.” Daisy slowly moved so she had a sliver of space for Robbie. He shook his head and squeezed himself between her and the bars on the side of the bed. “Don’t forget Bun.” he said and put the stuffed animal in Daisy’s arms. She bit her lip but couldn’t help but smile, and closed her eyes. Robbie embraced her carefully; he didn’t want to accidentally hurt her shoulder. He let out a sigh, knowing they were safe, for now at least, and closed his eyes as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> S.H.I.E.L.D. is back! It was so fun to write all of the characters, and in the next chapters even more of the team will be added! Thank you to Wlammy for being an amazing help and beta! I am looking forward to your comments, until next week!


	11. Chapter 11

“Wow, things must be going great for you and Fitz,” Daisy said, casually leaning against the doorframe of the lab.

“Daisy, you scared me!” Jemma said as she jumped up in her seat and swiveled around in her desk chair.

Daisy walked closer and squinted at the computer screen, “Double vanity sinks, a breakfast nook… How domestic.”

“Well, it’s nice to have a home outside of the base for once…” Jemma explained and closed the website.

“I am happy for you, guys, truly.” Daisy said with a grin.

“Thank you… also, why aren’t you in bed, shouldn’t you be resting with your shoulder?”

Daisy looked at her sling, “I am _so_ bored.”

Jemma sighed, “And _I_ am having flashbacks…” she muttered under her breath.

Daisy smiled and sat down on one of the stools next to her friend, “I also wanted come and apologize to you. I haven’t really had the chance since we got to the base.”

“Oh, don’t be silly!” Jemma answered and waved her off.

But Daisy shook her head, “No, hear me out. I am sorry for abandoning you guys. I really felt I was only causing pain and suffering, and I needed to get out of here. I see now how selfish it was of me, but after time went on it was harder and harder to… come back. I am also sorry I didn’t have the chance to tell you about the baby and you had to find out like _that_.” She instinctively laid her free hand on the bump.

Jemma pensively smiled and looked at her friend’s midsection, “Yeah, that was quite the surprise… But I am glad you’re back and safe, Daisy. I’ve missed you.”

Daisy laid her hand on Jemma’s and smiled, “I missed you too. I missed someone to have girl talk with.”

Jemma huffed with a snicker, “Tell me about it.”

“May’s not the greatest to talk about girly stuff, huh?” Daisy joked.

“No, not really.” Jemma agreed, thinking of the time she was complaining to May about Fitz’s penchant of leaving socks everywhere in their bunk and she only got a raised eyebrow back in response.

“How is Fitz…” Daisy asked carefully. Since she had gotten back he was initially surprised and relieved, but it quickly turned into anger. He had fallen out to her, but did not properly express his disappointment and confusion yet because they got interrupted, and he had stormed off. Daisy knew he had every right to be angry with her at how she left things, but wanted to make it right, again.

Jemma smiled wistfully, “You know how he is. After Ward’s betrayal… he just really cares deeply about the team and felt abandoned. I will go talk to him again, he just needs some time.”

Daisy gave a nod in return, “Thank you… I haven’t seen much of May either, I am not sure if I should go find her or I have to wait for her to come talk to me.”

Jemma sighed, “I don’t know either, she mostly comes and find you when she has something to say.”

Daisy nodded, “Yeah…”

“So where’s Robbie?”

Daisy chuckled, “Coulson asked him for a one-on-one, you should’ve seen his face.”

“So are you going through with the plan of staying and helping out S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

Daisy slowly nodded and carefully adjusted her arm in the sling, “Yeah I think so, I mean there aren’t much other options. We can’t go back to our place…” she said wistfully, losing herself deep in thought. She truly loved being back at the base, with her team. It certainly did feel like coming home, but she also missed her own modest little home with Robbie and Gabe, their freedom and the little nursery they’d build. Coulson had offered back her position within S.H.I.E.L.D. almost right away. She hadn’t really taken him up on his offer, not knowing how she was ever going to combine it with raising a baby. Not just right now, but also in the future after they had hopefully put a stop to the Watchdogs.

“Thank you for hearing me out, Jemma. I’m going to try and find Robbie, I wanna know if he survived his talk with Coulson.”

Jemma softly smiled, “Yes, and let me know what you’re deciding. We can certainly use you around here.”

“Will do.” Daisy said and smiled back at her friend as she pushed herself from the uncomfortable stool and left the lab.

* * *

“You offered him a _job?”_ May said incredulously, as she closed the door behind Robbie who had just left.

Coulson shrugged, and sat down at his desk, “We can use all the manpower we can get, plus he already has a lot of experience in defeating the Watchdogs.”

“You mean absolutely _annihilating_ them. Hadn’t you seen the massacre he left in Arizona?”

“Look, May. I know it is not ideal… but I also know that Daisy is now a package deal. She won’t stay if there isn’t a way for Robbie to stay too. He is the father of her baby, after all.”

“Phil… I know she means a lot to you. She does to me too. But that doesn’t mean we can just let someone become an agent, especially when they just told us he has made a deal with the devil!”

Coulson sighed. He knew it was a risk, but if there was one thing he trusted Daisy in, it’s her judge of character. “Look, I haven’t gotten a straight answer from Daisy if she wants to return or not, but we got to give them a chance. She’s not safe out there right now.”

May sighed and folded her arms in front of her, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Phil.”

Coulson clicked with his pen and scribbled something on a file he had gathered on Daisy after she had disappeared and closed it, he sighed, “Me too.”

* * *

Robbie heard the door closing behind him and he exhaled. His one-on-one with Coulson went pretty well, even though it felt more like he was meeting his girlfriend’s father for the first time than a (surprise) job interview. 

Looking around, he decided to just wander a bit through the base to fill some time instead of going right back to the bunk he shared with Daisy. It was still pretty awkward for him to be living here. He knew all of the agents were looking at him, _side-eying_ , probably thinking that he didn’t belong. And they would be right, he didn’t. If it wasn’t for Daisy, he would’ve left ages ago, but it was nice to see her reunited with what he could only describe as her family, and that they were safe now.

He felt automatically drawn back to where his beloved Lucy had been parked, wanting to see how she was doing. Suddenly he noticed a pristine red 1962 Chevrolet Corvette and couldn’t help but whistle. He did not expect a car like that parked at a base like this and started to approach the shiny vehicle.

Just as he was about to lay his hand on the hood, a voice came from behind him, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Robbie jumped and turned around where Mack was crouching next to his motorcycle, tinkering on something. “Coulson doesn’t like anyone touch his precious Lola.” And returned his attention back to his bike.

Robbie looked at the car and slowly nodded, “So, she’s Coulson’s?”

“Yep.” He answered gruffly. Mack had not warmed up to Robbie at all. Not only was he being extremely protective of Daisy but he was also a man of faith and explaining that he had made a deal with the devil, well… it didn’t help.

“I get it. I wouldn’t want anyone touching Lucy, either.” Robbie answered, and walked over to his beloved 1969 Charger, trailing the hood with his fingers and cleaning a smudge off of the black paint with his elbow.

Mack raised his eyebrows as he looked at Robbie, “So, the Charger is yours?”

Robbie nodded and leaned against the side of the car, folding his arms, “Yep, 1969 Dodge Charger R/T, used to be my uncle’s but he gifted it to me when he moved. Upgraded most of her parts.”

Mack stood up and brushed his hand on his pants, “So, you’re a mechanic?”

“Yeah, well that’s my actual job. I work at a garage in L.A.”

Mack slowly nodded and Robbie could see he was impressed. “Do you mind if I take a look under the hood?”

Robbie normally wouldn’t want anyone touch his precious car, but he saw that Mack was finally warming up to him, so he nodded in response and gestured at the hood of the car “Go, ahead.”

Mack walked closer and opened the hood, and hummed, “I’m impressed.”

“She was overheating a bit but I replaced the fan belt, and now Lucy drives like a dream.”

Mack shook his head, “What’s up with Coulson and you naming your cars?”

“Don’t you have a name for that sweet bike of yours?” Robbie asked as he pointed at Mack’s motorcycle he had been tinkering on.

Mack shook his head, “Hell, no. Just my bike.” And kept staring at the engine of the car before carefully dropping the hood back down. “So, is this car like… a part of your… -”

“Yeah,” Robbie interrupted, “when the Ghost Rider takes over the car becomes part of him.”

“Of him?”

“Well I am actually not the Rider, he’s a voice in my head… an entity I can’t fully control and it wants out all the time but I have the upper hand, unless I am too stressed or something.”

“Like when you were in the containment module?”

Robbie scratched the back of his head, “Yeah… I um, well I was very worried about Daisy and the baby, so it was hard to gain back control... but that changed when I saw Daisy was fine.”

Mack slowly nodded, he was starting to understand. He didn’t like the whole hell demon thing but he now understood how much Robbie cared for Daisy, and he patted Robbie’s back. “I am glad she’s safe.”

Robbie jumped when Mack suddenly patted his back with quite a force but smiled, “Amen to that, brother.”

* * *

“Hey, I was looking for you,” Daisy said, as she walked into the bunk that they’d gotten assigned after Daisy had been released from the med pod. Robbie was sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands folded and staring at his feet. He looked up at her and smiled, “Hey.” He scooted a bit to the side so Daisy could sit next to him.

“That bad, huh?” Daisy joked, and winced at the sharp pain in her shoulder as she sat down a little too fast.

Robbie snickered, “I felt like I was meeting your parents for the first time. He even asked what my ‘intentions’ were.”

Daisy looked mortified, “Oh my god, he didn’t.”

Robbie smiled and put his hand on her knee, “Kind of. Asked me what I do for a living, how we’re providing for ourselves once the baby comes. It was quite funny. Offered me a job, though.”

“A _job_?” Daisy raised her eyebrows in surprise, “As _a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent?”_

“Sure did. May didn’t seem to be too pleased with it.”

Daisy buried her face in her hands before letting herself carefully drop backwards onto the bed. Robbie followed her and laid on his back as well. “What are we going to do, Robbie?” she said, letting out a deep sigh.

“I don’t know,” he answered her honestly, “I’ve never done the whole team thing before! It was always just me, until you came along. But a whole team…”

Daisy let her head drop to the side and looked at him, his dark eyes looking into hers, “Let’s just… help however we can until we have somehow defeated the Watchdogs and see how we go from there?”

“I hope all of that happens before the baby is born…” Robbie said, as he thought of the nursery they had build, just wanting to take their baby home and not to some secret base crawling with agents.

Daisy nodded, thinking the same thing and groaned, “We’ll figure it out… eventually. I am just glad we’re safe now and not on the run… have you talked to Gabe?”

“Yeah, he’s with our _tío_. He always stays the summer with him, so they’re safe.”

“Good, I’m glad,” Daisy answered and stared back at the ceiling. It was the same ceiling she used to stare a lot at in her days at the S.H.I.E.L.D. when she was suffering from bouts of insomnia.

“Hey, we’re going to be fine.” Robbie assured her.

Daisy let her head drop to the side again and smiled at his face, his kind eyes were genuine. “I know.” she said softly, and reached out for his hand, tangling her fingers with his.

* * *

“Knock, knock,” Daisy said, and she entered the already open door of Coulson’s office.

Coulson looked up from the files in front of him, his blue eyes sparkling as he smiled at seeing his previously long lost agent. “Daisy, hey.”

“Can I come in?” She asked.

“Yes, of course!” He answered, and invitingly gestured at one of the comfy chairs.

Daisy nodded and sat down while looking around. Not much had changed since she had left. She looked at Coulson who, with a tilted head, was waiting for her to say what was on her mind. “I wanted to talk to you about your offer,” Daisy said.

“What about it?”

“I don’t know how I am going to do it, Coulson. I obviously can’t go in the field, really, not if I don’t have to, but even after she’s born,” as she splayed her hand on her belly, “I have to take her in consideration, I can’t give my life to S.H.I.E.L.D. as I used to.”

Coulson rested his folded hands on the desk in front of him and smiled, “And I won’t ask that of you, but remember when I first offered you to be a part of S.H.I.E.L.D.? It wasn’t because of your fighting skills or your powers, it was because you could see opportunities none of us could, you thought outside the box and could use that computer of yours and hack in whatever was needed. If that’s the only skills you can currently provide, well then that’s more than enough.”

Daisy smiled back at him, tried to swallow down the unexpected lump in her throat, “I don’t know how long or in what capacity Robbie and I can help, but we will do everything to put a stop to those damn Watchdogs. I promise you that, but after…”

Coulson shrugged, “After that, we’ll see. Okay? Don’t worry about it.”

Daisy nodded, “Thank you.” and moved her hand down to the lower curve of her belly.

Coulson gave her a nod, laugh lines forming at the corner of his eyes, “How are you feeling? I must say it suits you, Daisy.”

Daisy let out a laugh, “Thank you, it’s been quite good actually, she has recently started kicking, it feels really weird but it’s cute.”

He looked at her and nodded, “You’re happy?”

“Well besides being hunted down by an organized crime unit that wants to rid the world of anyone with special abilities… yeah, I am happy. I didn’t think I could be after… everything that has happened, but I am.”

“Good. I am glad.”

“And how are you? I see you and May have become _closer_.” She said with a smirk, noticing the time they were spending together had increased, and glancing at the half empty bottle of Haig with two glasses on his coffee table.

“We are… Well…” he stammered, “It’s nice to have someone to talk to.”

Daisy just smiled and gave him a nod, the way Coulson and May had been looking at each other had definitely changed and it was nice to see. She stifled a yawn and leaned into her seat more, “I am heading to bed.”

“Alright, I’ll see you two at the briefing tomorrow.”

Daisy stood up, a little more wobbly with her shifted center of gravity and walked to the door, “Good night, Coulson.”

“Good night, agent Johnson, glad to have you back.”

Daisy smiled, reveling in the way her old title sounded, and slowly made her way to her bunk.

* * *

Daisy had been lying awake for most of the night, her mind still reeling as she kept staring at the ceiling, and listened to Robbie quietly snoring next to her. 

She had to process the fact that she was an agent again, something she didn’t expect to ever be again, after she had made the decision to leave S.H.I.E.L.D. behind.

She let her head fall to the side and looked at the standard issued alarm clock that all of the bunks had. The red digits staring back at her. She sighed, it was only 4:30 A.M. and she was wide-awake. Apparently her baby was too as she felt a strong kick against her bladder and groaned, “Okay, okay, I’ll get up,” she whispered and made a bee-line to the bathroom, relieving herself and staring at her reflection in the mirror as she washed her hands. Her reflection had changed a bit since she entered her second trimester. Her face had become a little fuller and her hair was thicker and shinier. Robbie told her she was glowing but Daisy wasn’t too convinced. He did enjoy her new curves, though, that was for sure, as he couldn’t keep his hands off of her. Not that she minded.

Daisy splashed some water on her face, careful not to jostle her sore shoulder and walked back to the bed, Robbie was still sound asleep, his arm above his head and softly snoring. Daisy smiled at him but dreaded having to lie back again. She decided that she might as well go and work out at the gym instead of being alone with her thoughts. She carefully pulled some workout clothes from the pile of clothes that they’d gotten her at the base, since most of her wardrobe had been left behind back in Los Angeles. She sighed, standard issued leggings and a grey S.H.I.E.L.D. shirt it was.

Daisy made her way over to the gym, wandering through the still empty hallways of the base, relishing in the silence. Her arm nicely tucked in a sling, so she wouldn’t move her shoulder or accidentally bang into something.

Arrived at the gym, she eyed the punching bag, smiling at how much she missed training in a proper gym. Awkwardly and with the help of her teeth, she taped her hand to prepare it for fighting. Even though she only used her uninjured arm, the impact of the first blow to the punching bag still hurt her shoulder. However, the feeling of finally being able to punch something again outweighed the discomfort of the dull ache.

After a good twenty minutes, she heard someone else enter the gym but it didn’t stop her from continuing her workout. She could see in the corner of her eye that it was May, and that she was observing her. May walked closer and held the punching bag still for her and slowly shook her head, “You’ve lost muscle mass.”

Daisy halted her fighting and smirked. “Well, things happened.” she answered a bit out of breath and gestured at her belly before wiping the sweat that was dripping down her forehead with the towel around her neck.

“That’s no excuse,” May answered her, “There have been lots of pregnant agents that have kept up their exercise and training routine.”

Daisy sighed at her former S.O., as she punched the bag again, “I couldn’t really go out and join a gym, every-damn-thing had to be on the down low. Which was fine when I was still fighting Watchdogs, but had to quit that after I became knocked-up… So, not much training after that for me. Just yoga and stuff.” She said as she kept punching the bag.

May looked at her, squinting at her technique and gestured for her to punch a little higher, Daisy gave a nod and followed May’s instruction. “I’m still here at five, every morning.” May said, and let go of the punching bag and started on her own workout.

Daisy halted her punching and softly smiled, knowing that it was May’s way of welcoming her back and that she was willing to help her go back to full strength. Daisy took a swig from her water bottle and continued to imagine the punching bag in front of her was Axel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I loved writing all of the characters (Fitz and Elena are yet to come!) and Daisy making amends. I hope you guys enjoyed it and have an amazing weekend, and until next week!


	12. Chapter 12

“He’s not here!” Mack panted over the comms, after punching the last of the Watchdogs unconscious with the back of his shotgun-axe. He put his weapon of choice back into the holder on his back and let out a sigh as he looked around the place. There had been another Watchdog gathering that Daisy had found out about, and as it was in Arizona, they’d hoped they could get to Axel, but it was just a meet-up between lower-ranking Watchdogs, who were quickly outmatched by the team consisting of Mack, Robbie and May.

Daisy groaned and shook her head. She was situated at the Zephyr, far away from what the screens in front of her were displaying. “Alright, thank you, Mack. We’ll see you in a bit.”

“Copy that,” he answered, and looked at where May and Robbie were interrogating some Watchdogs. They were sitting with their backs to each other with their hands tied, and looked absolutely terrified. When Mack came closer it became clear that it was due to Robbie’s eyes that were literally glowing with anger. May didn’t seem to mind Robbie’s inner demon coming out, but Mack quickly decided to appease him by giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Get anything out of them?”

May shook her head, “Nothing yet. They’re claiming they don’t know.”

“As I said before - we don’t know where he went!” one of the Watchdogs said angrily. Their masks had been snatched off in the fight and left discarded on the ground, making the guys look a lot less dangerous. “The asshole just left.” the other added with a shrug.

“That’s _bullshit_!” Robbie fired back. “You must get your orders from someone!”

The Watchdog retaliated by spitting at the team’s boots and Mack looked disgusted at his feet, “ _Really_?” he said annoyed.

May shook her head “Let’s get them out of here.” and gestured at the uniformed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to pick them up and drag them away.

As they followed the new detainees, Mack made sure to walk next to Robbie and said, “Hey man, you need and try to stay calm in the field. I know it’s frustrating but they’re not worth your energy.” and gave him a smile. Robbie scratched his eyebrow and gave him a nod, “Yeah, I know. Just hoped we would be closer to finding this Axel guy after what he did to Daisy.”

Mack gave him another reassuring tap on the back and followed May up into the Quinjet.

* * *

Daisy slammed her fist on the desk in front. “Damn it!” Saying she was disappointed would be an understatement. She had really high hopes that the weasel who was responsible for kidnapping her and strapping her to a freaking _bomb,_ had been there at the compound. She leaned back in her chair and put her left hand behind her head as her right one was still in a sling, so there wasn’t too much strain on her injured shoulder. She stretched her back that was sore from sitting hunched over all that time. 

Robbie had gone into the field as a part of the team for the first time, and she was, for the lack of a better word, jealous. She missed the rush of fieldwork, using her fighting skills for something other than assaulting a punching bag at the gym. What she wouldn’t give to face the bastards and use her powers to make these enemies fly… Sure, she was good with computers and Coulson had made it clear that it is all he wanted from her, but now the lead to finding Axel turned out to be another dud, she even felt more useless and frustrated.

Daisy swiveled impatiently left and right in her chair, still glaring at the screens, waiting for her team to get into the Quinjet and back onto the Zephyr. 

She could feel Fitz’s eyes on her; she caught him staring at her a few times since she got onto the plane with Robbie. She could tell Jemma had been talking to him, he seemed a little less gruff at her now, but there was definitely still quite the awkward tension. Her sense of guilt made her decide to just leave Fitz be for a while, granting him time to process her return on his own terms. But Daisy wished he would just let it out, say his plea, so they could get it over with…

He exhaled audibly, and because she had been irritated and on edge since her own perceived failure of the mission, she couldn’t ignore him anymore and without looking up from the monitors said, “You’re staring.”

Fitz felt annoyed but barely showed it as she folded his arms in front of his chest, and responded defensively “Just observing.”

Daisy spun around in her chair, and looked at him. She sat up a little more straight and rested her free hand on her lap, just beneath her round belly. She decided not to say anything, hoping her silence would encourage him to talk more. Which it did.

“It’s like you haven’t left. The way you just sit there, and communicate with the others. The only difference is that you’re not in the field right now.”

Daisy sighed, “Don’t remind me,” and absentmindedly brushed her hand along the curve of her expanded belly.

His blue eyes eyed her movements; the turmoil was evident on his face.

“Just say what you want to say, Fitz.”

“I honestly don’t even know _what_ to say to you, Daisy! You left!” Fitz unfolded his arms and pointed at his chest, and continued, “You think _I_ don’t want to leave at times? Just to get up and abandon everything when it gets too difficult? But I don’t, because we’re a team! We figure it out together! You’re not the only one who just gets to quit and...” He let his hands hang down like he was suddenly overcome with fatigue.

Daisy shifted in her chair but remained silent.

Fitz added, “We were worried _sick._ We looked for you, _every where_ , picturing god knows what might have happened to you, just to find out you were playing house with some bloody demon?! We all blamed ourselves for not catching you when you needed us most, and held our breaths every time we saw ‘Quake’ on the news, knowing it was you, without being able to contact you... If I’d known ye were out paintin’ a nursery, I wouldna have worried so much!”

Daisy wanted to respond, but Fitz didn’t give her a chance.

“And then we happened on ye by chance; shot, injured and _pregnant_!” he exclaimed, now pacing back and forth with clenched fists in front of Daisy. “And everybody is just so happy to see you that they’re all blinded to all the hurt you’ve caused! We’ve been through terrible things… all of us! But we stayed. Our job is not just a job, for Christ sake, we protect those who can’t fend for themselves! And yes, that is hard, but it is what we and what _you_ chose!” he concluded, wheezing a little.

Were it months ago, Daisy wouldn’t have been able to look him in the eye and probably would’ve run, like she normally did. But he was right, in all his raw emotion, of course he was right. “I had to do what I thought I needed to, Fitz. I never did it to intentionally hurt anyone; it was to protect you all. After Lincoln…” She paused, it was still really hard to think about what happened to him that day, and took a deep breath. “You have every right to be angry; I am just trying to make amends. I want to do the right thing and tell you how sorry I am about how I handled all of this, I truly am.”

Fitz ignored her apology. “Would you have returned if we hadn’t found you?” 

Daisy looked at Fitz, the pain clear in his blue eyes, and she wanted to sugarcoat it but instead decided he deserved the truth. “Honestly, no. I don’t think so.”

Fitz huffed in response, and frowned, unclenching his fists.

“Doesn’t mean I am not glad to be back, though.” She said softly, looking at her friend.

Fitz looked back at her, he could see she was genuine but the hurt and anger still lingered in the pit of his stomach. 

Daisy tried to explain, “At first, I was so lost, I felt like a left a trail of destruction behind me... and then I accidentally rolled into something real. It scared me to death at first, but now...” Fitz looked at her baby bump and tried to picture the Daisy that left, all alone and sad, buying a pregnancy test and dreading the outcome. But then he shook his head. He couldn’t accept that she did not just immediately return and asked for their help, or anything else the team had to offer. 

Daisy saw his face soften and then harden again but before she was able to respond, their fight was cut short by the sound of the Quinjet connecting to the Zephyr. They looked at each other and Daisy let out a shuttering breath and shook her head, giving him a slow nod. They both knew they had to put their feelings on hold, for now. It was clear, however, that a lot of the tension between them had already subsided. Fitz gave her a nod in return and waited for the team with the new detainees to get out of the Quinjet and meet up with them.

* * *

Daisy sighed as she maneuvered her laptop around. She tried sitting in different positions but nothing seemed to be comfortable, and complained; “What do you do when you have a laptop but no actual _lap_?” She closed the lid with force and practically threw the computer beside her.

Robbie chuckled, “Sit at a desk, maybe?”

Daisy looked at him as if he had grown two heads, (which actually wasn’t that far from the truth, if she was honest). “What do I look like? Some sort of _scientist_?” she joked, half serious.

Robbie sat next to her on the bed, “You seem frustrated.”

“You try and balance a computer on this sphere of a belly,” she retorted.

“Something tells me it’s a bit more than that.”

Daisy let out a deep sigh, “It’s just so frustrating to see you and the others go in the field and I am just stuck here… Doing squat.”

“You’re not doing squat, you hacked into an extremely advanced computer system and found us a lead!”

“A lead to nowhere…” she sighed.

Robbie pushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear, “Hey, we’re going to get him, I promise.”

Daisy softly smiled and rested her head against his shoulder, “Fitz finally talked to me, so that’s something.”

“Really?”

“Hmmhmm…” she hummed, “He finally had his say. He’s angry at how I just left, and how everyone is acting like nothing happened. I mean, he’s right I don’t blame him.”

“Still not fun to hear…” Robbie said as he rubbed her arm.

“No, but it weirdly felt like a relief. Everybody _has_ been acting like nothing happened and it’s sweet of them, but a lot has changed... and it’s kind of nice that it is being acknowledged. I want to make amends but I feel like everybody is just waving it off… I just hope Fitz is going to forgive me, he was my rock a few years ago when I got my powers, so I’d hate to lose his friendship.”

Robbie nodded understanding, and kissed on top of her head. “It might be a little selfish of me but I am glad you ran away.” he admitted, and smirked.

Daisy sat up straight again, smiled and playfully punched his shoulder, “I have to get ready for this ‘party’ and so do you.”

Robbie sighed. After the mission Jemma had informed them that Elena was coming back to the base and they wanted to do some kind of ‘welcome back’ party for them. Nothing big or special, they still felt a bit put on the spot, but Jemma was too enthusiastic to refuse.

“I don’t have much to wear.”

“Now, normally I wouldn’t have a problem with that,” Daisy answered teasingly, a smirk on her face, ”But just wear what you usually wear. Your leather jacket, it’s nice.” She groaned as she attempted to get herself off the bed, which was pretty hard with only one uninjured arm, so she needed Robbie’s help. He put his hand on her lower back and gave her a gentle push.

Robbie followed her with his eyes. A smile crept on his face. Daisy walked over to the closet and took off her sling and the comfy sweater she had been wearing a lot these days, and was now standing in front of the mirror in only her bra, pants and her bandaged shoulder.

Robbie stood up too, and silently closed the distance between them, Daisy let out a surprised yelp. He embraced her from behind, his hands wandering over the bump and gently trailing upwards her body. In between placing soft kisses on her neck, he seductively whispered, “Can’t we go a little later?” into her ear.

Daisy felt her knees grow week, and let out a soft moan. “Jemma’s gonna kill us if we are late...” she softly protested.

Continuing to kiss her neck, Robbie hummed “Who is this Jemma you speak of...” making it very hard for Daisy to keep her thoughts straight, and she chuckled “I don’t remember...” She then found a sliver of self-control, and said “But I do know we have the whole night for ourselves after…”

Robbie nipped at her ear “I can’t wait.” and let her go. Daisy groaned, he knew it drove her crazy when he would wind her up, to then just... let go. She opened the closet, still tingling from head to toe, and decided on a random shirt and quickly put her sling back on. Hankering for more Robbie, she rushed him out of the door “Let’s get this party over with!” Robbie laughed and took her hand in his as they walked through the hallway.

* * *

When Robbie and Daisy arrived, it became clear it was indeed more of a nice gathering than a real welcome back party, which was a relief for the both of them. Coulson and May were sitting at the kitchen counter, deep in conversation and in their own little world. Fitz and Simmons were talking to someone Daisy didn’t recognize (probably from the lab) and Mack and Elena were standing together and were the first ones to notice them. There were several S.H.I.E.L.D agents she didn’t necessarily know, but seemed to enjoy themselves and the ambiance felt nice and relaxed.

Daisy and Robbie walked up to Mack and Elena who both gestured for them to come closer and Robbie got handed a beer and Daisy a coke, which she regretfully took from Mack who just shrugged, “Sorry. It’s that or tea or water, we don’t have much other than beers here.” 

Elena had put her hand in Mack’s back pocket, which prompted a raised eyebrow from Daisy. Elena noticed Daisy’s reaction and leaned closer, “Things change when you leave for months.” she said with her raspy voice.

Mack and Robbie were already deep in conversation about some car things, so it gave Daisy some space to talk to Elena, who she had actually really missed.

Daisy smirked and put her drink to her lips, “I can see that.”

“When Mack called me to tell me about you, I couldn’t believe it, but here you are.” Elena said, eyeing her friend’s pregnant belly.

“Well, can’t say it was planned,” Daisy answered and smirked, “But yes, here we are.”

Elena slowly shook her head but still had a smile on her face, “So now you guys are just bunking together at the base or something?”

Daisy shrugged and looked at Coulson who was still deep in conversation with May. She leaned in closer to Elena and chuckled “He gave us separate bunks.”

Elena looked over he shoulder at the director and back at Daisy, “ _Really_?”

Daisy snickered, “He said it was ‘protocol’ for every asset to have their own bunk.”

Elena let out a chuckle herself and shook her head, “Sure.”

“That’s what I said.”

The conversations were suddenly interrupted by the clinking sound of a spoon being tapped against a wine glass. Everybody looked up and saw Jemma with a big smile on her face, holding her glass high in the air. Daisy immediately felt awkward, as she knew Jemma was planning to do a speech, but mustered up a smile.

“Hello everybody! Before we continue with our little get together, I wanted to bring attention that our friend and colleague has returned to us, with not only one, but _two_ extra ‘ _additions’…_ ” she joked. People were now staring at Robbie and Daisy and they gave an awkward nod. Coulson had a big smile on his face as he looked at Daisy. “Welcome back agent Johnson, and Robbie… welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D.!”

Everyone held up their drinks and said a “Here, here!” or a “Cheers!” and went on with their conversations. Daisy smiled at Jemma at the other end of the room. She did not like bringing attention to herself, especially not after the way she had ditched everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D., but it was very sweet of her best friend to organize something like this, so she put her own uneasiness aside and raised her glass to her. Jemma raised her glass back and even Fitz joined in and gave her a small nod. Daisy softly smiled and gave a nod back, feeling warm and grateful.

After an hour or so, of chatting with everyone, Elena and Mack had circled back to Daisy and Robbie. “So how did you guys meet?” Elena asked. Robbie smirked and looked at Daisy who was frowning, thinking back on how they met, and not really remembering the first time.

“She quaked me through the air.” Robbie helped Daisy out with a grin.

Daisy suddenly remembered and huffed, “Well, to be fair your whole head was on fire and I had watched you kill some Arian brotherhood gangsters by removing their spine.”

Mack was clearly taken-aback by the story and just stared at the couple. Elena rolled her eyes and took a swig of her beer, “How _romantic_.”

“But after that, we had quickly found out we had the same goal of defeating the Watchdogs and decided to team up. The plan was to find the root of it instead of just killing random ones, like this one was doing,” Daisy said as she playfully poked at Robbie’s chest. Robbie just smirked in response.

“Well, I think I know how the rest went.” Elena said, as Daisy had brushed her hand along the curve of her belly while she was staring at Robbie with a smile on her face, looking like idiots in love.

Elena nudged Mack, “Hey, can you mix me that drink you talked to me about the other day?” and dragged him with her to the kitchen, leaving the lovebirds alone. 

Daisy vaguely heard Mack protest with a “But you spent all day saying you looked forward to having a beer...” but felt their surroundings fade away when she looked into Robbie’s eyes. They were warm and glowing, not with hell fire this time. “Let’s take a walk”, she suggested, her expression innocent but her cheeks flushed.

Together, they walked through the hallways of the base, somehow ending up where Lola en Lucy were parked. Daisy let her hand slide over the smooth lines of Robbie’s car. “Remember that night we first sat on the hood?” she recalled, knowing all too well what Robbie was thinking.

“That was so much Scotch for just two people...” Robbie replied, folding his arms around her. “I remember looking at this sad and wild girl and feeling so curious to know more.” He confessed, holding her free hand in his. 

Daisy responded “I wasn’t that wild...” but Robbie hindered her from any joke she was planning to make, with a kiss, so slow and soft, that her train of thought just disappeared.

Daisy’s simmering desire started burning again with the touch of Robbie’s warm lips and his strong arms pulling her closer. Impatiently, she removed the leather jacket off his shoulders. Robbie let her take it off, never letting go of her hungry mouth while wiggling his arms out of the sleeves. Daisy let her hand run under his shirt, reveling in the heat of this skin, tracing the lines of his abs with her fingertips. Robbie squirmed, “That tickles” and she hummed “Sorry.” while finding the way back to his lips. 

Robbie couldn’t take it anymore and pushed her up against the car, and deepened their kiss, spurred on by Daisy’s soft moaning. With one hand, he cupped her face, with the other he quickly rolled down the soft elastic band on her maternity jeans, still passionately answering her wet hot kisses.

Just when Daisy folded her fingers around Robbie’s shirt hem to pull it over his head, a voice sounded nearby. “I don’t know, Phil, maybe you left them in the car?” Two sets of footsteps approached quickly. Robbie, with his hair all messy, quickly opened Lucy’s back door. Daisy suppressed a giggle, yelped, and dove in the back seat, losing a shoe in the process, and pulled Robbie in by his hand. 

Magically, Robbie managed to close the door and duck down before May and Coulson walked into the room. Daisy held her hand in front of her mouth to stifle any laughter and Robbie, crammed up against her bare bump, whispered jokingly “Remind me why I drive a Charger?”

“Shhh, they’ll hear us!” Daisy hushed him, peeping out of the window with one eye.

“You were right, here they are!” a relieved Coulson said with a set of keys jingling in his hand. The backseat of Robbie’s car was suddenly dark when May stood in front of it, with her back to the window. Daisy pressed as flat as she could against the backseat, her shoulder started to ache a bit and she was praying May wouldn’t turn around. 

“Great, now let’s go back before the lab guys find your Scotch” May said, and she moved to the door, all the while blocking the windows of the car with her back. Coulson’s cheerful voice and their footsteps soon disappeared down the hallway, and Robbie exhaled in relief. 

Daisy laughed and struggled to sit back up. “ _Dios mío_! That was close”, she said with sparkly eyes, and Robbie swiftly turned his head around to face her.

“Say that again”, he demanded.

“ _Por qué_?” Daisy responded with a grin.

Robbie climbed over to her, still crammed in the backseat of his sports car, and kissed her.

“Don’t get too excited, this is all the Spanish I know! Let’s get out of the car before someone else walks in” Daisy said.

Robbie sat back up and let them out of the car. When he looked for his jacket and Daisy’s shoe, he discovered they were somehow kicked under the car.

“May”, they both realized, and Daisy blushed for a moment.

* * *

With Daisy holding her one shoe, they ran through the hallways to her bunk, ducking as they passed the party.   
  


Forcefully, Robbie threw the door shut behind them and locked it. “No more interruptions,” he said, as he tossed his jacket on the chair.  
  


He walked up to Daisy, she was carefully removing her arm from the sling and Robbie helped her get her shirt off, pulling it delicately around her arm and shoulder, and finally over her head and then took off his own. Fumbling with his belt, Daisy felt her heartbeat in her throat. She had undressed him many times before, but this was the first time at the base, at S.H.I.E.L.D., among the people she belonged with, and she felt full of joy and anticipation of the future. Robbie took off his jeans and guided her to the bed, where she laid down. He kneeled down and gave the bump a kiss before rolling down her stretchy jeans.  
  


Daisy ran her fingers through his hair and tugged gently on his ear. “Come here,” she said breathlessly, and Robbie lay beside her on the bed. His hand followed her curves, like a landscape he was about to explore, and he whispered, “Say it again.”  
  


Daisy smiled and said with her most seductive voice; “ _Dios mío, señor Reyes_ ”, and laughed with her eyes closed in delight when Robbie grabbed her.   
  


His chuckles quickly subsided when their lips found each other in a kiss so promising and full of fire; it felt like the evening had just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed! I am currently writing the 18th chapter, I think this story is going to be around 20 chapters, which is kinda sad because I love writing this story. Anyway, leave a comment if you like and have a great weekend and until next time! 
> 
> (Also thank you to my beta wlammy for being amazing!)


	13. Chapter 13

“So we know Senator Nadeer and the Watchdogs are connected…” Daisy said pensively, leaning against Coulson’s desk and staring at the large screens in front of her.

“Does this mean the Watchdogs are more infiltrated within politics than we previously thought?” Elena asked.

Daisy nodded, “I think so.”

Coulson pulled up senator Nadeer’s anti-inhuman political campaign, which garnered a lot of sympathy from people that were scared of people with powers. Her political status gave her a lot of power and influence within parliament, and the intolerance of powered people grew.

Robbie sighed, his arms crossed. He was staying silent and kept his focus mainly on Daisy who was discussing the possible involvement of the senate into the far-right organization.

“It just can’t be a coincidence that Axel wanted Robbie to go on live television and have her get killed, he is or was aiming for something... Surely, it would lead to a lot of controversy and it would help the anti-inhuman agenda... but why target Nadeer? She is on their side.”

Elena huffed, “Maybe he is just dumb.”

May shook her head, “No, there must be more to it.”

Everybody looked to Coulson for answers and further instructions. He put the tablet he was holding on his desk and looked at his team, “Daisy, I know you’ve been scouring the Internet, databases and such but I’d like you to stay on it, there must be something out there that is useful.”

Daisy folded her arms in front of her chest and gave him a nod.

“And Robbie, I’d like you to keep thinking if we missed something; you were the one that spent pretty much the most time with Axel, any little detail can make a big difference –“

“What about us?” Elena interjected, referring to herself, May and Mack, as Fitz and Simmons were still doing work in the lab.

“I’m thinking we might go undercover at the senate, there is going to be a press conference and senator Nadeer is going to be present. I’ll fill you in once we got a plan together.”

Everybody agreed, left Coulson’s office and went their own way. Daisy looked at Robbie who was walking next to her silently, even more silent than usual. “Are you okay?”

Robbie faintly smiled and reached for her hand, holding hers in his, “Yeah, I am fine.”

Daisy squinted; she knew he wasn’t telling the whole truth. “Come with me.” She pulled him to their bunk. Daisy closed the door behind them and Robbie sat down on the edge of their bed.

“What’s up Robbie? You’ve been even more stoic than normal.”

Robbie rubbed his tired eyes and sighed. He looked up as Daisy approached him and said “I just… When I hear about the growing intolerance in the world against Inhumans, or people with powers in general, I get worried about…. Well her –“ he put his hand on Daisy’s bump. “It’s something I put way in the back of my mind because there was so much more to worry about… but seeing how the Watchdogs are being supported by not only the public, but now also funded by politicians… It scares me. Not just for us, our family, but the world she is going to grow up in. I know I am being a hypocrite after I considered giving in to Axel’s bribe but-” and shook his head instead of finishing his sentence.

Daisy softly smiled as Robbie was tenderly caressing her belly. She combed her fingers through his short dark hair; making him look into her eyes, “Don’t even think like that, Robbie. It was an impossible situation! You felt like you had no choice... But it’s okay, you didn’t have to do it, we escaped before any of that had to happen.”

“Would you have forgiven me?”, Robbie wanted to know, his voice almost timid.

Daisy looked away from him to think about it honestly for a second, before returning to look into his eyes.

“Never mind, you don’t have to answer it,” he reassured her.

She shook her head, and cupped the side of his face in her hand, “Of course I would,” she answered, caressing his cheek with her thumb. Robbie closed his eyes in relief under her warm touch. 

Then he gently pulled her down next to him on the edge of the bed, and admitted “Maybe... I am just a bit worried how we are going to raise an inhuman child. I know you told me how you got your powers and I agree with you that is her birthright to at least make the choice, _if_ she wants to receive them, when she’s old enough, of course…”

Daisy instinctively laid a hand on her belly and replied, “I know. It scares me too. Getting my powers was really-really hard and scary. You never know what you get. It can be good like mine turned out to be, but it can also be… terrible…” 

May’s ex-husband Andrew came to mind, and so did Robin’s tortured father and many more Inhumans she had encountered. 

Then she remembered with a smile “But she’ll have us to help her get through it! She’s going to have an amazing support system and we still have 16 to 18 years to worry about that. Besides, we don’t even know _if_ she’s going to have inhuman capabilities.”

Robbie huffed, and joked “With Quake as her mom? She definitely will.” 

He rubbed the back of his head, “I am freaking out a little, aren’t I?”

“I think you’re a bit homesick.”

Robbie looked around the nice but very impersonal bunk. He indeed missed his house in L.A., his own bedroom and how the light would spill through the curtains in the morning. Greeting his brother at the breakfast table, going to work at Canelo’s, peering into the almost completed nursery as he walked by… “I think you’re right,” he sighed.

Daisy kissed Robbie and leaned her cheek on his shoulder, “We will be going back home.”

Robbie laid his head against hers, “I feel like you’re at home, though. These are your people.”

Daisy looked up and nodded, “I do love them, they mean so much to me. But they know, and I know, a secret base is no place to raise a kid.”

“Only fifteen more weeks…” Robbie muttered under his breath.

Daisy took a deep breath in at that small number and let it out, sighing “Yeah, it’s crazy…” more so to herself than to Robbie.

They remained silent for a minute before Daisy patted him on the knee, “Come on, Robbie. Let’s get back to work.”

Robbie slowly nodded and pushed himself off the bed, “Okay, let’s go.” He turned around and pulled Daisy off the bed by her one stretched out hand.

* * *

Robbie and Daisy had gone their separate ways after their little talk. Robbie had gone to Coulson to again try and remember everything Axel had done and said, and Daisy was mindlessly going through lots of databases and hidden forums to find any clue as to what the Watchdogs plans were, and where the hell Axel had gone. But still nothing came up.

It was hard for Daisy to concentrate anyway, as her mind kept going back to their talk. She too had put the whole ‘the baby is probably going to be an inhuman’ thing way in the back of her mind. And even though they had briefly talked about it before, it now really only registered what kind of implications it could have on her daughter’s life. Daisy sighed and pushed her desk chair from the desk, rolling backwards and she hissed at her still painful shoulder. It had been two weeks since she had been shot and it had gotten a lot better but it still was pretty painful with sudden movements. She carefully got off the chair and stretched her poor back that was now also starting to ache. She decided that if she wanted answers, the best way to go was to pay Jemma a visit. She knew that she was the one with the most knowledge of inhuman physiology and she hoped her friend could help her ease her mind a bit.

* * *

“Knock, knock.” Daisy said as she knocked on the steel doorframe of the lab.

Jemma turned around in her chair and smiled at her friend, “Hey, Daisy! What brings you here?”

Fitz had looked up from the other side of the lab surprised but quickly went back to work. The lab itself was practically empty except for Fitz and Simmons at this time of day, which was the perfect opportunity for Daisy to talk about what had been bothering her.

Daisy sat down at one of the empty stools near where Jemma was sitting and sighed, “I, err… was wondering if you could help me out with something.”

Jemma nodded, immediately curious, “Of course, I was just finishing up anyway.”

Daisy frowned and took a deep breath. “I have talked to Robbie about, well… how our kid is most likely going to have abilities and it kind of scares us because we don’t know if it is going to affect her life at all, or if she even has powers –“

“Ah yes, because of the Ghost Rider’s DNA, of course”, Jemma interjected, finishing Daisy’s sentence.

Daisy let out a sharp breath, and stuttered with a confused frown, “What? Ghost Rider? No… Because I am inhuman.” There was a pregnant pause and Daisy felt herself getting dizzy, “Wait… are you saying that you think the Ghost Rider might…” 

Jemma could clearly see that neither Daisy nor Robbie had even thought about the genetic possibilities of the Ghost Rider and it had freaked Daisy out. “Oh, Daisy, I’m so sorry! I just thought you guys had considered the possibility.”

“Are you saying I could give birth to a _hell demon!_ ”, Daisy exclaimed, her heart beating fast, looking at Jemma with a slight panic.

Jemma, sat on her desk chair, quickly rolled closer to Daisy and laid her hand on her knee. “It’s gonna be okay, Daisy! I am not saying anything, yet, it’s just a thought I had... The possibility is minuscule!”

“But you did think about it!” Daisy said, swallowing down the lump in her throat. “I never ever considered it! I mean, the Ghost Rider is just using Robbie as a host. I never thought…”

“Listen to me, Daisy. Don’t freak out, I am sorry I mentioned it. We can do a blood test. How about that? If Robbie is willing to give some blood we can see if there are any anomalies.”

“You can test these things?”, Daisy wondered, leaning on the edge of the desk.

“We can try, if his blood is altered it could mean _other_ genetic material could’ve been altered. The inhuman thing is a little more complicated because the DNA changes _after_ the terregenisis like with yours.”

Daisy slowly nodded, feeling overwhelmed and nervous. “I’ll go get Robbie,” she said. A sudden hand gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. She looked up. It was Fitz, and with kind eyes, he said “I’ll go get him, you stay here.” Daisy muttered a ‘thank you’ and watched him leave the lab.

Robbie soon arrived with Fitz in tow. He looked confused, deep lines forming between his eyebrows. “Daisy, what’s going on? Fitz said you needed me, is everything okay?”

Daisy slowly nodded, “I, err…” she looked to Jemma to clarify, knowing that she’d be better at explaining it while her head was still reeling. Jemma repeated the same thing she had said to Daisy, just a little more mindful this time. Robbie shook his head, confused and worried. Like Daisy, that part of their genetics he hadn’t been concerned about, but it suddenly hit him. “Please take my blood now, we need to know,” he requested in a monotone voice, a tone Daisy immediately recognized as his worried voice.

She offered him the glass of water she gratefully accepted from Fitz, and Robbie quietly took a sip, as Jemma was preparing a needle to take some blood.

He gave back the glass and stretched out his arm, not even flinching when Jemma poked him with the needle. She took several vials of blood and quickly set the analyzing process in motion. With the high tech equipment at S.H.I.E.L.D. they knew it wasn’t going to last long before they got results but it still felt like it was taking forever.

Daisy was silently rubbing her belly. The baby had reacted to the sudden spike in her heartbeat and was kicking up a storm. She felt so stupid for not even considering the fact that the Ghost Rider’s genetics could have an impact on her baby, it was like they’d only been worried about her passing down her Inhuman DNA that it didn’t even occur to them that the hell demon inside of Robbie could be of influence.

Daisy looked up as she heard the familiar sound of her friend’s footsteps come closer. She had returned with a tablet in hand and a soft, but unreadable, smile on her face. Jemma directed her gaze at Robbie and finally spoke, “So I analyzed the results, and I could not detect anything unusual about your blood, this means that –“

“I won’t give birth to a baby with a flaming skull?” Daisy interjected, remarking sarcastically.

Jemma now looked to Daisy and shook her head, “No, you most likely won’t,” knowing that her friend coped with stressful situations by using her humor and sarcasm.

Daisy and Robbie let out a relieved breath and Daisy grunted, “Don’t scare me like that again, Jemma. Please.”

“I really am sorry, I really thought you guys had thought about it. I should’ve been more cautious.”

“Well, I guess it’s good that we now know.” Robbie said, he got up from his chair and walked over to Daisy. Putting a hand on her uninjured shoulder, she could feel he was still shaking a little.

“But the inhuman thing? The thing I actually came to see you for?” Daisy tried to joke, but it fell pretty flat with the tension still high.

“We can do a blood test as soon as your baby is born, but I don’t think it is likely we’ll find something off because it changes once she’ll go into terregenisis. Just like your blood was regular before you changed.”

Daisy nodded, “I pretty much knew that, but I wanted to make sure.”

“And now we’re _really_ sure.” Robbie said as he loudly exhaled, giving Daisy an unconvincing smile. 

* * *

Coulson had gathered everyone back at his office not long after the stressful situation at the lab. Both Robbie and Daisy were still a bit shaken up, but otherwise fine and relieved about the outcome of Robbie’s blood test. Daisy made sure to not be in the foreground too much, as she knew she wasn’t going to be in this mission anyway, not undercover at least. Robbie had squeezed her hand and made his way up in the crowd, leaving Daisy alone leaning against the wall.

The mission was pretty straightforward. Senator Nadeer was going to have a press conference, one of her many, to spread more hate and lies about the danger of Inhumans. S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to go undercover to check it out. 

They knew the Watchdogs were linked to Nadeer _and_ they pretty much knew Axel or his henchmen were going to show up as well, so it was a great opportunity to try and capture him. Daisy sighed when she heard the details of the plan; she was _craving_ some actual fieldwork; she especially missed being undercover and using her wits and skills to further a mission.

Although she loved being back with her team, she also felt so cooped up at the base, not being really able to go anywhere. She hated the way other agents looked at her, walking big circles around her when they met in the hallways, treating her like she was made out of porcelain. There had been a big shift since she came back and everybody eyed her belly as if she was about to pop. She wanted to go _out_ , do something useful.

Her wardrobe was also starting to get extremely limited as she was now only able to wear either her overalls with her comfy sweater or stretchy striped shirt, or she was walking around in her workout leggings and one of Robbie’s shirts. She wished she could go out to at least a goodwill to pick something up that would fit. Jemma had already offered her some things but their styles differed greatly and of course most of it didn’t fit anyway.

She brushed her hand along the curve of her belly. Sometimes she was worried that she wasn’t cut out to be a mother. She already loved her baby so much, wanted to do everything to keep her safe, and especially after the many scares she had already gotten, her need to protect her baby had become even fiercer. But the fieldwork was addictive, the rush of adrenaline was incomparable to anything else, and the idea of her life as a mom being confined behind a keyboard made her reluctant about her future with S.H.I.E.L.D

Robbie was doing amazing though, he was more in control of the Ghost Rider lately and even though he was homesick, he was doing great in the field and was very useful to S.H.I.E.L.D., people seem to really warm up to him. He even started to become close to agent Davis, whose wife was also expecting a baby. She wished she had someone to talk to about having a baby, pregnancy was pretty scary and she had no one at the base who was going through or had gone through it themselves. Robbie was great, but it wasn’t the same.

Daisy sighed again as she watched everyone getting a role assigned in the mission, their heads nodding and dutifully taking in information about their new personas. Coulson suddenly called for her and she looked up. The way he blinked at her meant that he had already asked her something and she had been too deep in thought to have taken notice.

“Oh, sorry, what did you say?”, she asked, and stood up straight so she wasn’t leaning passively against the wall anymore.

Coulson repeated his question, “Could you help Fitz create fake ID’s for Elena and May to be reporters and Mack and Robbie to be security? We also need a way for them to bypass the security system and hack into the surveillance feed.”

“Of course,” she replied with a nod. The security system there was pretty advanced but it wouldn’t be too hard with her skills. She was a bit nervous working with Fitz again, and even though she felt like a lot of the tension had been already resolved, actually working together could still be a little awkward.

“Can I be of help in the field?”, she heard herself say before she’d even thought about it. Everyone turned their heads to her and she could see Robbie frown in the corner of her eye.

“Absolutely not,” Coulson said sternly. Everyone was still looking at her.

“I don’t mean actually going undercover, but I want to have an active role in the search of Axel. I could keep an eye on the security cameras and stay on comms.”

She could see Coulson squint, his blue eyes shifting as he though it over and gave her a nod. “You can stay on the quinjet but that will be as far as you go.”

“Copy that.” Daisy said pleased.

Everybody turned back their attention to Coulson who proceeded to talk the mission once over and then dismissed everyone. The undercover operation was going to be the next day, so there was still plenty of time to get everything ready and set-up. She watched all of the agents leave; all of them were deep in conversation talking the mission over with their assigned partners.

Robbie stopped at her and folded his arms, “You got me worried for a second.”

Daisy huffed. “You still don’t trust me do you,” she accused him, half jokingly, half serious.

“I do trust you, but we both know you can dive head deep into stuff.”

Daisy felt irritation bubbling up, “And we both know you have no problem keeping stuff from me,” she snapped, referring to their fight just before she had been kidnapped. “So, what’s your problem?”

Robbie sighed deeply, not wanting to get into the same fight again, “You know I’d do it differently if I could do it all over again,” he replied softly. They had already spoken about their fight just before everything with Axel had happened, but Daisy had trust issues and for her it wasn’t something she could brush off as easily as other’s might. So it still kind of lingered.

Daisy pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath, “I am going to talk to Coulson.”

Robbie slowly nodded, “See you at the bunk?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she answered dismissively and walked away from Robbie. He watched her leave, slowly shook his head and got out of the office.

Coulson was wrapping stuff up. He couldn’t hear the fight between his two agents but he certainly could tell by Daisy’s body language that she was upset. She plopped herself down on one of the comfy chairs and let out a big sigh.

“Everything okay?”, he asked, putting the files down he was holding.

“Yeah, was just wondering if I could leave the base for a little while.”

“Do you think that’s wise?”

Daisy shrugged, “I have an appointment coming up with my OB/GYN and I need more clothing, I am seriously running out.”

Coulson contemplated, he knew he could someone pick up some clothes for her but it was a little more tricky with a doctor’s appointment. “You’re free to go, but I’d prefer if you had someone chaperoning you. Just to be sure, the Watchdogs are still every-”

“ _Everywhere_ , yes I know,” she finished his sentence and sighed again. She then looked up at Coulson, he had a soft smile on his face and Daisy couldn’t help but smile back. “Thanks, Coulson. I am just going a bit stir crazy.”

“I can imagine, but I think this next mission is going to get us further in dismantling the Watchdogs.”

“I hope so.”

“Everything okay between you two?” as he looked to the door where Robbie had disappeared.

“Yeah, we’re just feeling both cooped up.”

“Well I got you both bunks… So you can take a break from each other,” Coulson said, a little teasingly.

Daisy huffed and smiled, “Yeah, thanks _dad_ ,” and pushed herself out of the chair, still struggling with her painful shoulder.

“We’re going to eat dinner in an hour, join us?” she asked.

Coulson gave her another one of his infamous soft smiles, the one that reached his blue eyes and gave her a nod, “I’ll see you then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I am almost done writing this story! It is going to have 19 chapters + an epilogue, so 20 in total and over 65k words. By far the longest fic i've ever written! I hope you guys are still enjoying this, comments and kudos make my day :) Have a great weekend and until next week!
> 
> (Also, who else is shipping Sousa and Daisy like crazy rn? Because I am! I love my QuakeRider but I am glad canon Daisy gets some love!)


	14. Chapter 14

Daisy let out a deep sigh, _God_ , was she getting sick of Nadeer’s face… she thought to herself as she was observing the senator through a live feed of the surveillance cameras and the news that was covering it. Robbie and Mack were standing not far behind the senator, doing their part as undercover security, and from another corner of one of the camera’s, Daisy could see May and Elena, dressed as reporters. Other agents were also present, mixed in the crowd. There was, unfortunately, still no sign of Axel or any of his men. Coulson had to stand-by as he was the face of S.H.I.E.L.D. and would therefore be too easily recognizable, especially by senator Nadeer.

The quinjet Daisy was staying in was cloaked and parked near the town hall Nadeer was holding her speech outside of, allowing for easy access to either the building or the plane if things were going head to head. Daisy sighed and leaned back in her chair, putting her hands in the front pouch of her black hoodie she had ‘stolen’ from Robbie, and lazily swiveled from side to side with still her eyes focused on the screens. Really not much was happening, and Daisy was starting to worry this was going to be yet another dud.

But after a while, things suddenly started happening in the crowd, it was very subtle but with an overhead view it became obvious that there were people slowly nearing the front of the stage. Daisy leaned over and took a better look at the people that were moving, and quickly decided it was time to at least warn her team over the comms. First, she started to call out for Mack so he could be aware of what was going on.

He answered her but the comms started to crackle and then the sound faded out. “Mack? _Mack_?”, Daisy repeated before trying the others, but she could see through the live feed that none of them could hear her and she knew something was up. “ _Damnit!_ ” she cursed out loud, as her heart started beating in her throat. She zoomed in on the people nearing the stage. Nobody seemed to be alarmed, not even her team. Instead of the easily recognizable henchmen of the Watchdogs, these were regular looking women in pant suits, not much different from what May and Elena were wearing, and they were maneuvering through the masses, completely overlooked by everyone.

Daisy looked around in the plane, she had been pretty much left alone, everyone was undercover at the conference, so there was no one she could warn to go take a look for her. She cursed to herself again, and got out off her chair, her eyes still glued to the screens. She _had_ to go. She could feel it in her gut that this was going to go south _very_ quickly if she didn’t do anything about it. She hesitated calling Coulson but she knew he was only going to try and stop her, and him getting there would take too long. With a big sigh and a silent apology to Robbie, she put up the hood of her sweatshirt, and got out of the quinjet, her hands nestled in the hoodie’s pouch pocket.

She hurried to where Nadeer was still doing her speech. Daisy could easily blend between Nadeer’s supporters as they were all wearing dark hoodies as well, albeit with hateful phrases printed on them. Nobody seemed to notice her anyway, as they were too busy nodding along with was being said. She quickly made her way through the horde of people, trying to blend in as much as she could, as she watched the women she had spotted on the cameras slowly approach the stage. She tried to subtly signal her team but they were on the other side of the crowd and it was hard to get through to all of the people, especially with her larger form.

Daisy decided _to hell with being stealthy_ and just held her hand up, trying to get the attention from Mack and Robbie, who were stood closest to her. Robbie’s eyes grew big as he spotted Daisy standing in the crowd, he instantly looked worried and confused, and she saw him try to say something through the comms but nothing was working. The Watchdogs were probably using some kind of signal blocker, which took away any possibilities for communication.

Robbie nudged Mack with his elbow and subtly gestured to where Daisy was standing. Mack too, looked confused and troubled. Still, nobody seemed to notice anything was off, but Daisy gestured at some of the people in the crowd. Robbie and Mack looked around for Axel, who was nowhere to be found, when suddenly Mack saw a flare of what he instantly recognized as someone pulling a gun. It was one of the women in the crowd and on the top of his lungs he yelled; “Gun!” which made everyone start screaming and run away with their arms covering their head.

Senator Nadeer halted her speech and looked at the tumultuous crowd with a puzzled look on her face. Robbie and Mack hurried towards the senator and pulled her back as Daisy held up her hand and quacked the woman with the gun through the air, immediately knocking her unconscious against a pole. The crowd was now going into full panic and everyone was trying to get out of there as soon as possible. Nadeer was yelling and protesting as she was being pulled to safety, and May and Elena quickly sprung into action to try and find out what was going on. Elena used her yo-yo powers to hurry through the crowd and took only a second to dismantle the four armed women. The other undercover agents were quite easily able to overpower the Watchdogs and shot them with their I.C.E.R.’s.

Daisy watched it all happen and let out a relieved breath, glad that she wasn’t knocked over by the hysteric crowd. “We have to go _. Now!_ ” Mack said to Nadeer, who, to no one’s surprise, protested loudly as she got escorted to where the cloaked quinjet was parked. Robbie was still looking at Daisy from a distance and she followed the other agents to the plane who were carrying the unconscious assailants.

Everyone made their way into the quinjet; the still unconscious Watchdogs were secured into the containment module and the angry senator had been sat on one of the chairs. Everybody finally allowed themselves to exhale. Daisy could see Robbie was furious, and the other agents weren’t happy either. Coulson had been trying to contact the quinjet every since he saw everything happening live on TV.

“Robbie…” Daisy tried, wanting to explain herself but he wasn’t willing to talk and shook his head, the turmoil clear on his face and he walked off. Daisy sighed and decided to let him be for the time being, knowing he needed some time.

Senator Nadeer, with her usually perfectly neat hair now in disarray, had been watching Daisy. “So, this is what ‘Quake’ has been up to…”, she said with a sneer, “I could’ve known she was being kept hidden by S.H.I.E.L.D. all this time”, and eyed the obviously pregnant form of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in front of her and huffed.

Daisy wanted to say something but Elena stuck up for her and interjected “You know she just saved your life, right? From your _own_ people!”

Senator Nadeer huffed once again, “First of all I have _never_ seen these people before in my life and second of all; how do I know S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t behind this? Huh? This is a nice set-up to gain back sympathy from the people.”

Daisy shook her head and walked closer, clearly agitated, “S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t use dirty tricks like _you_ do. You are losing control of your people and you are so lucky we were even quick enough to get you to safety.”

“ _Safety?_ You call this safety? Locked up in a plane with _terrorist_ sympathizers? No, those people,” she pointed at the containment module, “are not _my_ people. You guys weren’t even supposed to be there, maybe they were going after _you_ , instead of me.”

Daisy frowned, processing what the senator of New York had just been telling her. Something was clearly off. Nadeer didn’t even know about the Watchdogs they had in lock-up and she didn’t even seem to know about the pregnancy, even though Axel clearly did. There must’ve been a drift going on in the Watchdogs or Axel was planning maybe some kind of coup.

Mack called for Daisy, which took her out of her deep thoughts, and she looked up at her fellow agent. He too looked quite displeased with her and she sighed, “Yeah?” and walked up to him.

“Coulson wants to speak with you,” he said matter-of-factly.

Daisy nodded, dreading talking to the director. “What are we going to do with Nadeer?”, Daisy asked as she took the phone from Mack, but not yet putting it to her ear.

Mack sighed, “We have to let her go, she clearly wants to leave and keeping her against her will could be considered kidnapping.”

Daisy looked at the senator who was still complaining to Elena who just took it with her arms crossed. “She won’t be safe.”

Mack shrugged, “There’s nothing we can do if she doesn’t want our help.”

Daisy gave Mack a nod and watched him approach Elena and Nadeer before putting the phone to her ear. Coulson was like she expected, very upset for defying his orders but also glad she was okay. Daisy tried to explain herself a little, but he just said that they’d talk once she got back to the base. Daisy agreed and they hung up.

Daisy glanced at Robbie who was off to the side and clearly didn’t want to talk yet. Her mind was still reeling; she didn’t want to have to put herself in a situation like this but she knew that even after considering all the risks, she had made the right call. She jumped a little when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. It was May who gave her a reassuring squeeze. “You did good,” she said, before positioning herself behind the controls. Daisy watched as Nadeer was being let go off the plane and back on the street where cops had been waiting to escort the senator out. Daisy sighed and silently sat next to May who waited for the signal to pull up the quinjet and fly back to the base.

* * *

Coulson had immediately summoned her to speak to him at his office. He understood why she had defied his orders but was _not_ amused. She was not allowed on any of the cases, not so much as _near_ the field in the foreseeable future, not even if it revolved around Axel or the Watchdogs. Daisy had begrudgingly accepted it, knowing that he’d still use her for her hacking skills.

When Coulson had finally let her leave, she immediately started looking for Robbie. It seemed like he had disappeared into thin air since they had arrived back at the base. She first went to their bunk, but no Robbie. He wasn’t with his beloved car either, nor was he in the common area or the gym. She asked around but nobody had seen him since they had come home. It took a while of searching the base, until she suddenly noticed the door to Robbie’s bunk was ajar.

She exhaled in relief but then felt a little anxious. It was a clear sign why he had chosen his untouched bunk over their shared one... She suddenly felt like she was back at his porch again, trying to muster up the courage to ring the bell to tell him she was pregnant. Slowly, she walked to Robbie’s bunk door, contemplating what she was going to say, and she decided she would just hear him out and let him have his say and then give her side of the story.

She knocked on his door even though it wasn’t shut, but he didn’t answer. She pushed the door further open and let herself in. He was just sitting there on the edge of the bed, looking forlorn, his eyes glazed over and he was still in the suit he had been wearing on the mission. “Robbie…” she almost whispered, still standing in the doorway. He slowly looked up at her. He didn’t look angry anymore, just very hurt.

“I just don’t understand,” he eventually said, his voice low as he pulled the already loosened tie from his neck and threw it beside him.

Daisy closed the heavy door behind her but remained standing, letting herself lean against it. She cradled her arm, as her shoulder was still aching from quaking the Watchdog through the air. “I didn’t want to, it was never my intention, but when I couldn’t get a hold of you guys and I saw those Watchdog women coming near, I just knew I had to do something... otherwise things could’ve gotten _really_ out of hand.”

He exhaled loudly and answered her, visibly agitated “ _This_ is exactly why I kept those things from you when I made a deal with the Watchdogs! I knew you were going to go after them, and there was no way I could protect you two!”

Daisy immediately felt her anger spike after what he had just said, and was ready to repeat their earlier fight, but when he looked up at her, his brown eyes full of hurt, she decided to swallow her pride and took a deep breath to calm herself.

“Robbie, I will _always_ go through fire for the people I love. That’s just who I am. I know you want to protect me, but I will never be able to sit idly by while my friends get hurt. I really didn’t want to do it, but I _had_ to.” She exhaled and gathered her thoughts, “Since I made peace with who I am as an Inhuman, I feel like being Quake is kind of my destiny and it will always be a part of me… That is something you need to accept if we want to make this work.”

Robbie stared at her arm cradling her other arm; he knew she had done the right thing. Were he in her shoes he probably would’ve done the same, but at the same time _he_ wasn’t the one who was mortal and carrying their baby. “I know, and I will always try and protect you and our family, that’s who _I_ am.”

Daisy softly smiled, “I know, and I _love_ you for it.”

Robbie looked up at her, his eyes widening. This was the first time she really had said to him that she loved him, and it seemed to just slip out. Daisy didn’t seem scared or taken aback by her words, however. Not like the girl who only a few months ago had ran away after he had sleepily confessed his love for her.

“I have… I have been having these reoccurring dreams… _nightmares_ ,” he suddenly confessed.

Daisy was caught by surprise and frowned, it was a pretty unexpected response to her love confession, but she remained silent.

Robbie swallowed and said, “It starts out really nice, it always does,” and continued with a wistful smile, “We’re back at our house in L.A. and it’s a sunny morning. Our daughter, she’s about four years old, she’s babbling and you two are laughing together about something as you’re brushing and braiding her hair. She looks so much like you...” His voice faded to a whisper, halting his story for a second to conjure up more details from his dream. “I am preparing breakfast and holding a little boy in my arm while I am trying to flip pancakes, sometimes he’s in a high chair, the details occasionally differ... It’s chaotic and loud and just _perfect,”_ Robbie let out a shuttering breath, “But it always ends with you getting shot through the window… The kids start crying and screaming and I let myself fall to the ground. You’re bleeding out on the kitchen floor, gasping for air and slowly the life fades from your eyes and there’s _nothing_ I can do! Everyone then turns to dust and I am left, alone, covered in your blood.”

Daisy swallowed, she could see the absolute anguish in his eyes, “Is that why you’ve been wandering the halls at night?”

Robbie blinked, “You knew about that?”

Daisy walked closer to him, cupping his face in her hands, and slowly nodded, “I am so sorry Robbie, I don’t think I’ve ever really properly apologized to you.” And she leaned over, giving him a soft kiss. She hadn’t even noticed her cheeks had gotten wet with her tears. “I didn’t know you had nightmares, too.”

Robbie blinked, “You too?”

Daisy hummed in response, “But I assure you, that I will do everything in my power to make the _first_ part of that dream of yours, come true.”

Robbie shrugged, “It’s just a fantasy, you don’t have to -“

“No.” Daisy interrupted his remark, “It’s what I want, too.” She thought of the little boy he had described, a son to add to their young family, and smiled. “But I also know that we are broken people,” she added. “We need to work on our issues so we can be strong individuals to form a partnership and raise this little girl.” She reached for his hand and placed it on her belly, “I need for us to get there, but you have to trust me that I am not going anywhere.”

“What will happen after she’s born? Will you continue being an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“I don’t know Robbie, I truly don’t,” she answered wistfully, “Coulson was the first one to believe in me. I have always looked and searched for family and he gave met that. I am not really sure who I am without S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Robbie let his head drop, the tip of his nose brushing the top Daisy’s belly.

Daisy gently tugged his ear, he looked up at her again and she smiled, “Doesn’t mean I’m not willing to try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Even though I am shipping Sousy/Dousy/etc. like crazy I love coming back to this ship and writing for it! Only 5 more chapters (and an epilogue!) Comments are very much appreciated! Have a great weekend and until next week!
> 
> (Beta'd by: Wlammy)


	15. Chapter 15

To say the public response to Daisy saving senator Nadeer’s life was positive, would be an understatement. On various news stations they had been showing pictures and recordings of Daisy quaking one of the Watchdogs through the air; it seemed like it was the only thing on the news for days now.

It had been the first time in _months_ since the public had seen or heard of the ‘much-feared’ Quake, and when she suddenly showed up, _pregnant_ , doing an incredible heroic deed, the fear mongering that Nadeer had been doing was practically undone by that one single action. People were now admiring Daisy for saving someone that was her polar opposite in their ideology. It was like everyone had just switched sides, not just the public but also the media. 

Coulson stared at the many screens at his office while Daisy stood awkwardly by. “They have been trying to contact us non-stop, everyone wants an exclusive. I am afraid we can’t ignore it.”

Daisy looked at Coulson skeptically, she never liked drawing attention to herself, _especially_ on national TV. “I don’t know Coulson, can’t we just… let it blow over?”

“Normally I’d agree, but I think it might be an excellent way to clear your name. We can spin it that you were undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D. all this time, and that you are now focusing on your family.”

Daisy exhaled loudly and looked over her shoulder at Robbie. He looked pensively at the screens that were repeatedly showing footage of Daisy in action. “I think you should do it,” he eventually said.

Daisy swallowed, “Okay, but only if we can do it here, and you’ll be next to me,” she said to Coulson.

Coulson smiled, “Of course.” Since S.H.I.E.L.D. had gone public again it also meant that Coulson had been taking on duties as the face of the organization. There was a bit of backlash as he had been pronounced dead after the battle of New York, but he was able to spin it and nobody seemed to care anymore that a dead man was running S.H.I.E.L.D. “I’ll take on most of the interview, don’t worry. People are on your side, it’s good.”

Daisy gave him a hesitant nod, “Ok, I’ll do it. Thank you.”

* * *

Daisy nervously smoothed out the front of her blazer again as she stood next to Coulson, who gave her his ‘you got this’ look. She weakly smiled at him before staring back into the offline camera in front of her. She naively had thought that a simple Skype session with a news organization would suffice, but the S.H.I.E.L.D. PR team (they now apparently had) had none of it, and had built a whole camera set-up, with lights and everything. They also got her new clothes, which thankfully Jemma helped with, to look more professional and trustworthy. They even encouraged her to subtly show off her baby bump, because apparently she should care about strangers adoring that she was pregnant.

Not that it was hard showing off her belly… Daisy looked down and lazily rested her hand on it. Since she had officially entered her third trimester she felt like the size of her belly grew significantly with each day. Robbie had to help her tie her shoes, get out off chairs, massage her sore back… she thankfully wasn’t waddling yet, even though she knew that wasn’t too far in her future.

She wished Robbie was with her, but he was granted to go visit his uncle and younger brother he so desperately missed. She missed Gabe too, but it wasn’t safe for both of them to go, so now she was stuck with a camera crew and he was at his beloved uncle’s house. They had to conjure up a story why Robbie and Daisy had to disappear, to tell Gabe. Robbie hated lying to his brother but how do you tell him that he was the Ghost Rider? Daisy sighed once again when they got the signal that they were going live in five minutes. Robbie at first didn’t want to leave her, but she had convinced him it was fine. He was to return by quinjet the very next day anyway, but they weirdly hadn’t been apart for that long since… she came back to him with the big news. Even when Axel kidnapped her it wasn’t that long before they were reunited again.

Daisy was woken from her deep thought by Coulson, who put a hand on her shoulder, and gave her a smile “You okay?”

Daisy exhaled, “Yeah, I’ll just be glad when this is all over. I prefer staying in the shadows.”

Coulson smiled wistfully, “I do too,” missing the days where he wasn’t the face of S.H.I.E.L.D. and didn’t have to deal with the politics and giving tours to higher officials, instead of working in the shadows and going undercover with the team.

Daisy suddenly winced, letting out a silent hiss, and Coulson’s eyes grew big in worry, “Are you okay?”

Daisy let out a chuckle, “Yeah, she’s just being extremely active right now, and she’s running out of space, so she’s kicking my ribs. I think she senses that I am nervous.”

Coulson slowly shook his head, his blue eyes twinkling, “Already a troublemaker, just like her mom.”

Daisy snickered, “Thanks.”

“One minute!” a voice came from behind the camera, and lights were now being adjusted and the camera set in its final spot. Daisy was glad she only agreed to do a maximum of five minutes and that Coulson was next to her, it would’ve been even more nerve wrecking if she was on her own. The last ten seconds were being counted down and Coulson gave a reassuring nod just before the last second was over, and the news anchor with his perfect hair and teeth was smiling at her from the screen in front. Daisy straightened her back and gave him her best fake smile.

Turns out, five minutes really wasn’t that long. Coulson explained to the news anchor why they had kept Quake anonymous and undercover (a total farce, of course) and then the attention was brought to her. They once again showed the same footage they had been showing for days of her quaking the Watchdog through the air and thereby saving senator Nadeer. She was glad she could tell the truth and wasn’t the one who had to lie like Coulson had to do, and she just repeated her story of how she saw the Watchdog women approaching the stage from the plane she was situated in, and that she knew she had to do something. The story seemed to please the news anchor who then thanked her, congratulated her on the baby and closed the segment with a few words from Coulson, and then the red light finally dimmed and it was all over.

Daisy let out a relieved breath that she didn’t even knew she was holding, and smiled at Coulson who smiled back. “Glad that’s over,” she said, and watched as people packed up the cameras.

“Wasn’t too bad, they were loving the story.”

“Helped that Nadeer has made a fool out of herself just before, though,” Daisy commented. The same news station had called for Nadeer’s side of the story just before their item, but the senator only came off as bitter and distrusting. She tried to spin it like it was all a PR stunt from S.H.I.E.L.D. but nobody believed her anymore, making Quake a hero overnight.

“I don’t think she’ll be reelected,” Coulson said with a smirk.

“Let’s hope not, I mean, see how fast public’s opinion can change, who knows when it shifts again and S.H.I.E.L.D. is the bad guy again.”

Coulson slowly nodded, “Let’s not worry about that for now and get ourselves a drink.”

Daisy raised her eyebrow at him.

“Or, err a coffee?”

Daisy chuckled, “Can’t do that either, had my one cup for today, already.”

“Tea then?”

She sighed, “Tea would be great.”

* * *

Daisy chuckled at the end scene of the movie she was watching on Netflix, and shuffled a handful of popcorn into her mouth, cornels dropping and gathering on top of her belly, that she lazily brushed off. Jemma let out a laugh too, taking the bowl of popcorn from Daisy and eating a handful. “I love this movie so much,” Daisy said when the end credits started rolling,

“Fitz never wants to watch Mean Girls with me, anymore...” Jemma replied, “To be fair, we’ve watched it a fair amount, I don’t get sick of it, though.”

Daisy stretched her back, her bones popping from sitting too long in the same position. “Me neither,” she answered while stifling a yawn.

“This was nice, we should do this more often,” Jemma said as she put the half empty bowl of popcorn down and stretched her legs, before letting herself fall back onto the cushions.

“I know! Girl’s night was way overdue.”

Jemma silently agreed as the end credits were fading away and she paused it, the common room suddenly very silent without it echoing the movie’s score. “When’s Robbie coming back?”

Daisy sighed, “Tomorrow somewhere, not sure.”

Jemma slowly nodded, “How are things between you guys, now?”

Daisy exhaled and smiled softly, “Better, I think. It’s tough sometimes, because we’ve been thrown into this thing together because of the baby, but in truth we don’t really know each other all that well. And we have to figure each other out, while these things are looming over our heads, but… we love each other and we’re becoming a family, you know, and that’s kind of crazy on itself but, yeah,” she reeled off. “It’s not like you and Fitz, you know each other through and through.”

Jemma smiled, lovingly thinking of Fitz for a second before turning her attention back to her friend. “Fitz and I just took the scenic route, you’re taking the short-cut, that’s all,” she joked.

Daisy adjusted her pillow and sat up a little more straight. Had she had the choice she would’ve chosen the scenic route too, but the universe had other plans apparently. “Have you ever talked to Fitz about how you guys see your future?” as she put her hand on her belly and making slow circles to soothe her baby within.

“You mean having _kids_?”, Jemma said as she stared at her best friend’s midsection.

Daisy chuckled, “No, I just meant, you know, the whole shebang. You’re going to move in together, that’s already like a big step.”

“I suppose so,” Jemma agreed, “But marriage, kids? We haven’t really flat-out talked about it, but I know it’s something he wants, and I do too… I just don’t know how we’d ever combine it with our work…”

“Haven’t figured it out either,” Daisy said with a sigh.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to –“

“No, it’s fine! I just really don’t know. Robbie isn’t really keen on working for S.H.I.E.L.D. after the baby’s born, but I’ve never really been something else other than a hacker or an agent…”

Jemma hummed, silently acknowledging her friend’s struggle.

“I guess we’ll see after she’s born…” Daisy said, not entirely convinced herself.

“Did you guys pick out a name, yet?”

Daisy shook her head, “Nope, we don’t seem to really agree on anything. He wants something more traditional, but she’s got such a mixed heritage and I kind of want to combine it somehow, but we’re not sure how yet.”

Jemma smiled warmly, “I didn’t even really think of that… She’s going to be like half Hispanic, a quarter Chinese and a quarter white?”

“Yep, pretty much. My side of the tree is a bit fuzzy.”

“She’s going to be so _cute_ ,” Jemma said affectionately.

Daisy let out a chuckle, “Let’s hope so.” She stifled another yawn, “I think I am going to head to bed, I get so tired lately.”

Jemma got up from the couch and helped her friend stand on her feet by carefully pulling on her arm. Daisy smiled gratefully when she was back on her feet, and brushed the remaining popcorn bits from her shirt.

“How about you guys?”, Jemma asked as they were silently cleaning their snacks and taking the empty glasses to the kitchen.

“How about what?”, Daisy answered confused as she put the glasses in the dishwasher.

“Marriage?”

“Oh, no, no, no. That’s too fast, I don’t even know _if_ I ever want to marry, you know. I think Robbie wants to, eventually. But things are going already so damn fast, that part can wait.”

“I better be your maid of honor, though,” Jemma quipped.

Daisy jokingly let out an exasperated sigh, “Fine, I guess so…”

Jemma playfully gave Daisy’s shoulder a push as they turned the lights off. They closed the door to the common room and made their way over to their own respective bunks.

* * *

Daisy languidly massaged the shampoo in her dark hair, taking the time to scrub her scalp with her fingers and then moving on to the ends, making sure her hair was deeply nourished. The upside of being pregnant was that her hair had become even thicker and shinier than it was before. According to the pregnancy books it would go back to normal after the baby was born, so she decided to enjoy it while it lasted.

Daisy suddenly jumped at the sound of the bathroom door opening and was able to hold herself up by reaching for the bar the showerhead was attached to. She was soon met with Robbie grinning at her through the thick steam, his dark eyes mischievous. Daisy exhaled relieved and smiled at him, “Jesus, you scared me!”

Robbie pulled his t-shirt over his head, and shrugged with a smile “well, I did knock, but you didn’t respond.” He quickly rid himself of his jeans.

Daisy chuckled, “Sure, join me,” knowing full well that it was exactly what Robbie had in mind.

A naked Robbie joked “Oh uh, well, if you insist,” and opened the semi see-through glass shower door and quickly got in. 

“Hey,” he said, and let his eyes trail over his girlfriend’s body in admiration. Luckily, the S.H.I.E.L.D. showers were pretty nice and big, so they both fit quite comfortably, even with Daisy’s bump in the way. 

”Hey,” Daisy answered with a warm smile, while spreading the soap in lazy circles on her belly. Robbie stepped into the stream and took the shower gel, squirted some in his hand and gently washed Daisy’s soft curves, making sure to be gentle with her gun shot scar. His strong hands eased her tired muscles, and she softly moaned and sank her head onto his shoulder when he reached the bump. “You’re so beautiful”, Robbie said, wrapping his arms around her and coming to rest at her lower back. Daisy looked up at him, he looked more relaxed now than he had looked in months. Droplets ran down his forehead when he bent over to kiss her. His warm lips vaguely tasted of coffee, and she instinctively knew he had come back to her without taking a break, with the desire to be with her and the baby again. 

The kiss lingered, and when he pulled back, his wet eyelashes sparkled, and Daisy lovingly wiped the suds from his moustache with a chuckle. “How was your trip?”

Robbie smiled and combed his hand through his water slick hair, “Good, it was so nice to see him and my _tío_ , they’re doing really well. We watched your appearance on the news.”

Daisy slightly frowned, “Really?”

“Yeah, Gabe thinks you’re pretty cool now, by the way. You did a great job.”

Daisy smiled and slowly shook her head, “What did you tell him?”

“Pretty much the same thing, that you’re a secret agent and we had to relocate for a while. Didn’t tell him about the Rider, though. I wanted to, but he looked with so much admiration, I just couldn’t...”

“That’s okay, one step at a time,” she said reassuringly, and softly kissed him again. Robbie closed his tired eyes and melted in the moment. His hands found their way up her body to her face, and he gently cupped it, leaning his forehead against hers. “Hmmm I missed you”, he said, kissing her more firmly this time. Daisy stood on her toes and hummed in agreement while she pulled him in for a deeper kiss. 

They enjoyed each other’s presence for a while before Daisy broke the kiss again, and breathed a little remorseful “I’m sorry, but can’t do any sexy shower acrobatics at this point anymore.”

Robbie chuckled, “That’s okay, it wasn’t necessarily my intention!”

“I can wash your hair instead? I’ll throw in a scalp massage”, she joked lightly.

Robbie grinned and nodded, “Deal.” He turned around and reached for the shampoo bottle, the water cascading down his muscular back. Daisy tilted her head and sighed in admiration. “It’s good to be back,” Robbie said when he handed her the shampoo. Daisy nodded. “It is good.”

* * *

**Ten weeks later**

Daisy put the impossibly small fitted sheet around the tiny matrass’ corners as she watched Robbie put the final screw the in side of the crib. It was a bittersweet moment; on the one hand it was nice to finally have something for the baby at the base, on the other hand it meant that they were still hiding out, instead of being back at their home in L.A. with their already finished nursery.

Robbie got off from his knees with a grunt, and looked at his handiwork. He checked the instructions once over, and decided that he was pleased with the result. He tossed the manual to the side. It was a simple crib with a white matte finish, nothing fancy or special. They had ordered it from Ikea, along with some other essentials, that some poor agent had to pick up for them, and bring back to the secret base. It was nothing like the crib they had at home that Robbie so lovingly had sanded down and painted, but it was nice and functional, and as Daisy put the matrass in the crib, it was ready.

Weeks had become months and still there was no sign of Axel. The Watchdogs were very active but the team of agents could not figure out who was organizing them or who was taking lead. Senator Nadeer was still on her usual warpath, but the media attention around her seemed to waver. Coulson had agents trail her every move but nothing seemed off or shady, indicating that she was not the Dogs’ leader after all.

Daisy was now well into her third trimester, being in her 36th week. Her belly had grown exponentially and the baby’s head had dropped down low into her pelvis, resulting in her having a waddle, _much_ to her dismay. According to her doctor, though, she was doing great, so she tried to focus on the positive, instead of the negative. She couldn’t wait for her daughter to be born, her body was feeling extremely uncomfortable and achy, but at the same time also she dreaded it because of the still looming danger of the Watchdogs.

Robbie put a hand on Daisy’s lower back, and slowly started massaging it by pressing his thumb into the always-aching spot. She softly moaned from his touch, and sighed as she looked around at their room. It kind of looked out of place to have a crib standing against the brick wall of their bunk, with next to its matching changing table.

Robbie also stared at the now assembled crib and squinted, looking like he wasn’t really pleased with it, and he let go off the pressure on her back. He reached for the mint green-with-white-polka-dots baby blanket Jemma had gotten them and draped it over the side of the crib. Still not satisfied, he then walked over to their bed and pulled Daisy’s childhood stuffed bunny from beneath the pillows and placed it in the crib.

“Better?” Daisy asked, amused at his nesting behavior.

Robbie nodded, “Looks more complete now, well except for you know, the baby,” he joked and placed his hand back at her aching spine.

Daisy let out a chuckle, “True.”

Robbie bowed down so his head was level with her protruding belly, “No rush though, you keep cooking,” he made sure to add, addressing his unborn daughter.

Daisy pushed his head away and laughed, which subsided into panting. She always seemed out of breath as of late.

As Robbie was about to tease her again, when an insistent knocking was being heard on the bunk door. Daisy frowned as Robbie walked over and opened the door. He was met with Elena’s elated face. “We’ve got him,” she simply stated, with a content smirk.

Daisy walked closer, “Who?”

“ _Who?”_ Elena repeated exasperated, “ _Dios mío!_ Axel! They got him!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am pretty sure nobody cares about Quakerider anymore, but I still love them, haha! So there has been quite the time jump, I promise the baby will be born very soon! 
> 
> Comments are appreciated, hope you enjoyed reading and until next week!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I personally love this chapter, so I hope you guys do too!

Daisy followed Elena and Robbie through the hallways of the base, her previous embarrassment of having to waddle forgotten, while she tried to keep up with a frantic Elena. She hadn’t even noticed she was squeezing Robbie’s hand as he led her to the containment module. Elena and Robbie were talking to each other, alternating between English and Spanish, not that it really mattered, she wasn’t listening anyway. 

Her mind was reeling, as they approached the containment module, she couldn’t believe they _finally_ had a lead after literal _months_ since she had been kidnapped. 

The Axel staring through the window from inside the containment module wasn’t the same Axel that was imprinted on her memory. He looked… weaker, scruffy even. His tall and proud physique was now slumped over with his clothes hanging off his body. His face was covered in semi-healed bruises and cuts and a big gash over his eyebrow. If she didn’t know any better, she would’ve felt sorry for the man in the stark white room.

Coulson was talking to him, but he clearly didn’t seem interested in what the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had to say, his eyes were disinterested and glazed over. 

May looked over her shoulder when she heard the three of them approach, and gave Daisy a nod. Daisy slowly nodded back, and got closer to Axel. The towering man now seemed a lot more interested, laying his eyes on her and Robbie, he straightened his back and a smirk formed on his lips. “ _Quake_ ,” he said, his booming voice unchanged from when she last saw him. “How you’ve changed...” 

Daisy folded her arms, and rested them atop of her protruding belly. Much to his dismay, she ignored Axel entirely, and instead, turned to May to inquire how they got him. May turned to Axel and eyed him for a second before meeting Daisy’s gaze again, “Turns out, Axel’s stooges weren’t too pleased with his leadership anymore. Practically gave him up and handed him over to us.” 

Daisy huffed, pleased that even his followers had their limits tolerating his sass. 

Axel let out an exasperated sigh, “It was nothing like that, the _superior_ was -“, his eyes grew big and he seemed to realize his slip-up. 

“ _Superior_? Is that the one who did this to you?”, Daisy wanted to know, gesturing at his face, implying the many bruises and cuts on the former top dog. 

Axel rolled his eyes, but didn’t deny it. 

Robbie, who had been watching his girlfriend interact with Axel, suddenly felt dizzy and nauseated, and a shiver ran down his spine. He started to sweat profusely and gazed at his tingling hands. The Ghost Rider seemed to pull, but it felt different, nothing like the normal tug Robbie was used to when he wanted to take over. 

He grunted as the pain was suddenly searing, reaching every nerve in his body, and his legs didn’t seem to be able to carry him anymore. Mack, who was closest to him, quickly went up to Robbie and held him up. “You okay, man?” he asked concerned. 

Everyone turned around to look at Robbie, and Mack hastily got him out of there and into the hallway, calling out for Jemma for help. A very shocked Daisy hurried behind them, she had forgotten about her kidnapper completely.

Mack let Robbie lean against the wall, not really knowing what to do or how to help. Robbie hissed from the pain, and let himself slide onto the ground, his face grey and clammy. He felt like he was burning from the inside out, like flames searing hot, yet freezing cold.

Suddenly, like a switch had been flicked, the pain ebbed away, his erratic heartbeat slowed to a normal rhythm, a little color reappeared on his face, and besides a faint tingle, things seemed to have returned to normal. Daisy awkwardly kneeled next him and cupped his face in her hand in the gesture that always seemed to calm him, and bring him back to earth, “Robbie? Are you okay?”

Robbie slowly nodded, “Yeah, yes...”, and swallowed, putting his hand on hers that was still on his face. He exhaled, looked up at everyone, and was met with concern in their eyes. Mack helped him back up, while Coulson helped Daisy. Jemma immediately started asking medical questions, putting her hand against his forehead to check his temperature. The truth was he felt _fine_ ; it was as if nothing had happened. Robbie shrugged, turning to everyone and with a crooked smile joked that it was probably sympathy Braxton Hicks contractions, while still feeling shaken-up. 

Jemma frowned as Daisy looked to her for answers, “It looked like a panic attack,” she concluded. Robbie shook his head, “No, it wasn’t anything like that! Let’s just return back to -” 

But Daisy had none of it, “Let’s keep Axel sweating, and get you checked out, _first_.” 

“ _Daisy...”_ , he tried to reason. 

“ _Robbie_ , go!”, she said, not taking no for an answer. 

Robbie sighed and followed Jemma to medical. 

* * *

Daisy stared at Robbie who was asleep next to her, his chest rising and falling and his breathing nice and even. It had been really scary seeing him earlier, in pain and writhing on the ground. Jemma couldn’t find _anything_ wrong with him, but the pain was real, that was for sure. She sighed, sleep wasn’t her best friend as of late, the baby had barely any space left and she was making it known by using her insides as a punching bag. Daisy poked back at the little foot that gave an especially harsh kick from inside her womb, and she ungracefully turned around, dragging the weird long pregnancy pillow along with her. She tried to get comfortable again, which was pretty impossible at this stage.

She kept thinking of Axel who was now in their custody. A thing they’ve been working for, for _months_ , yet here he was, and she still felt like they were missing something. After Robbie’s painful episode they decided to leave Axel for the night, because if one thing was for certain, it’s that Axel _crave_ d attention. So by leaving him for an unforeseeable time, it would hopefully frustrate him and he might crack and let some valuable information slip. 

Daisy let out an audible grunt, feeling the familiar pressure of a full bladder again, and with some effort sat up right onto the bed. She sighed and put the pregnancy pillow to the side. She felt _huge_ at this point; she couldn’t believe she was still one month away from being officially full term. She was hoping her doctor was right when she predicted Daisy would probably go into early labor instead of reaching the full 42-weeks, as she already felt like she was pushing her body to the limits. 

Daisy pushed herself off of the bed and waddled to the bathroom, quickly relieved herself, and headed back to bed. But before she sat down onto the comfy matrass again, she looked at Robbie. There was something gnawing at the back of her mind and she knew that the only time she could really be alone with Axel and interrogate him was if she’d sneak out and confront him by herself at night. 

Daisy reached for her black leggings that were draped over the side of a chair, grabbed Robbie’s extra large forest green hoodie and a pair of sneakers she could easily slip into, and got dressed. She silently opened the bunk door, checked if she didn’t wake Robbie, then carefully closed the door behind her, and made her way over to Axel’s bright white cell.

Apparently they hadn’t given Axel the full room next to the pod yet, he was lying onto the bench that was standard for the containment module, with his legs sticking out at the end. She knew he was awake, even though it was three in the morning. 

“You know, in some countries forcing a prisoner to sleep in a lit box is considered torture,” he said, still lying down with his head resting on his arms and staring at the white ceiling. 

“How about strapping someone to a bomb?” she sarcastically retorted. 

Axel slowly sat up, stretching his long limbs and brushed the front of his jeans before resting his elbows on his knees, “Perhaps that does seem a _tad_ crude. Crude, but effective. Look at it from my perspective, how does one contain Quake? Not to mention your hell demon baby daddy… I would have gotten away with it, if it weren’t for S.H.I.E.L.D….”

“You do realize you sound like a Scooby-Doo villain right now, right?”

Axel raised his eyebrows, looking fatigued with such a remark, let out a sigh, and with an impatient hand gesture he urged Daisy “Tell me Quake, what brings you here in the middle of the night.” 

“Why Nadeer?”, she simply asked, letting herself lean against the module. 

“ _Nadeer_?”, he repeated with visible disdain, “Nadeer was only motivated by revenge, her thinking was too constrained to lead an operation like this, _while_ harboring her inhuman brother, still in a husk, might I add. No, politics _can_ be a useful tool, but for a revolution... it’s too slow. Besides, the people can change their minds with a single deed, it’s too…” he sighed and rested his face in his large hand, “...fickle.” 

Pestering the Watchdog, to get a rise out of him, Daisy responded with a sarcastic smirk “I guess I should be grateful... you made a hero out of me, instead of the villain in your little plan.”

“An oversight, yes. I do admit,” he nodded with a frown.

“And something you’ve paid the price for.” 

Axel got to his feet, his unruly hair touching the ceiling, and with his hands in his pockets he paced the narrow path besides the bench. “Believe me,” he muttered under his breath, “I have more than paid the price... this little prison is nothing compared to what the Ru-“ but stopped himself from saying anything further. 

“The Ru… The Russians?” Daisy tried to piece together. 

“ _No_ , the _rush_ of an operation,” Axel hastily corrected himself. He leaned forward to look at Daisy through the window, the ceiling light casting harsh shadows on his emaciated face, and when he saw she didn’t buy his flimsy lie, he said, “You know what, Quake, as charming as this talk was, I am very tired and I would like to rest now.” He laid back down onto the bench, which was barely long enough to support his back. With an exaggerated motion, he put his hand on his heart, “It’s nothing personal, really,” and rolled on his side.

Daisy squinted at his back, knowing he was lying and wondering what had happened to make his physique seem so fragile. He obviously wasn’t the brain of the operation, but if there was indeed a superior, like he let slip earlier, why was he let go?

After a bit of prodding, Axel still refused to talk, and because she had already gotten more out of him than she’d expected, Daisy decided to go to back to bed. Just as she turned around to leave, Axel spoke up, “Can you turn the lights off?”

Daisy looked over her shoulder for a second, “Nope.” 

* * *

“Focus on your breathing,” May said as she elegantly and skillfully practiced her tai chi. 

Daisy, who followed May’s movements, groaned at her S.O.’s comment and dropped her arms to her side, and rolled her shoulders. “It’s hard when your lungs are pushed up into your chest,” she complained, a bit out of breath. 

“You asked me to train you, get back to your old strength,” May answered, her movements unwavering, “Tai chi is perfect for it.”

“I know,” Daisy answered and slowly walked over to an exercise ball and moaned as she sat on it, relieving her swollen ankles and aching back. “Let me just sit for a while.” Staring into nothing, she slowly moved her pelvis on the big inflatable ball to release the tension in her back. 

May nodded, and finished her routine before coming to check up on Daisy. She handed her a water bottle, as she took a sip from her own. Daisy took it from her with a soft smile, and took a sip herself. 

“You’re distracted,” May eventually commented. 

“I’m tired.” 

“You’re always tired, this is something else,” May said as she put her hand on her hip and took another sip of her water. 

Daisy looked up at May, “ _You_ want to talk? About _feelings_?” 

May shrugged, “If it helps getting you back on track,” thinly disguising the fact that she was worried about Daisy. 

Daisy sighed and shook her head, as she continued to slowly rock back and forth on the exercise ball, “Just a lot going on.” 

Never the one to sugarcoat it, May raised her eyebrows, “Like what?” 

Daisy gave her a half-hearted smile, “Want a list?” 

“Tell me.” 

Daisy sighed, cupping her belly, absentmindedly following the movement of her baby with her hands, “I was thinking about Jiaying.” 

“Jiaying?” May repeated, surprised at the answer. She was expecting something about Axel or the Watchdogs, maybe even about Robbie, but not Jiaying. 

“Maybe not even Jiaying in particular, just… motherhood. I have no idea how to do this, how to be a mom. At first I could just not think about it, as it was still months away, but now… I could go into labor like, right now, and I don’t even really know how to even hold a baby. Sometimes I regret…” she was shocked by her own words for a second and then corrected herself, “No, regret isn’t the right word, I do not regret my baby. I just sometimes regret the circumstances. Wish I could provide her something more stable when she comes into this world.” 

Melinda gave her a rare smile, and rolled one of the exercise balls closer to where Daisy was seated and sat down. “Daisy, the only thing this baby needs from you when she’s born is your love and care. She’s not going to hold anything against you, that’s what puberty is for.” 

Daisy looked up, pleasantly surprised, “Did you just make a joke?” 

“Did it help?” May said, a small smirk on her lips.

“Actually, it did,” Daisy admitted, and swallowed the lump in her throat down, realizing that what she really was craving was some maternal guidance. “I just… never really had a mom.” 

“Daisy, you’re going to be great. I can already see it.” 

“And what if I am not?”

“Then we are all here for you. You think Coulson is going to give up on you?” 

Daisy softly smiled, thinking of Coulson’s unflinching dedication and support of her, “No, I guess not.” 

“Well, good. Now finish your work-out.” 

Daisy let out a chuckle, and slowly shook her head. May stood up and held out her arms, steadying Daisy so she could get up easier. “Thank you, May. Not for just helping me up, but the talk.” 

May looked up, almost surprised, “Of course.” 

Daisy, still holding on to May, bit her lip, “Do you think… you don’t have to of course, it’s up to you… But would you consider being there for me?” 

May frowned a bit, confused, “There for you?” 

Daisy swallowed, “When I go into labor, when I am at the hospital… I was just thinking that… You’re the only one that seems to be able to keep me focused.” 

May blinked at the sudden request, trying her best not to stammer, “Of course.” 

“You don’t have to, it’s okay if you –“ 

May shook her head, “No, no. I want to.” 

Daisy let out a relieved breath, “Thank you.” 

May gave her an assuring nod, a little taken aback by Daisy’s grand gesture but definitely honored. “Okay, let’s get you back on the treadmill.” 

Daisy groaned but followed May’s instruction. 

* * *

As soon as a plate of food was handed to him, Axel eagerly grabbed it and started to scarf it down. He was hungrier than he wanted to admit and soon felt the agents’ eyes on him and slowed down his chewing. “You know, what this needs is some salt and pepper,” he said after swallowing a big spoonful of mashed potato, “... you might want to tell your chef-“

“You should be glad we’re feeding you at all!”, Elena interrupted him, “If it were up to me…” having zero patience for the Watchdog.

Daisy just rolled her eyes at Axel, and walked past Elena and stepped closer to the window, “Now that you’ve gotten your food, you have to hold up your end of deal.” 

“And speak with my mouth full? My-my, Quake, how undignified,” Axel answered, with leftover mashed potato sticking to the corners of his lips and facial hair. 

Daisy just sighed; not very surprised that Axel wasn’t willing to cooperate right away. “Can we mute this pod or something, I can’t stand the sound of his chewing.” 

Axel just smirked, and tauntingly slow, he stabbed his green beans with his fork, leaned back in his seat and chewed them loudly.

“Sadly, we can’t,” Jemma answered, without looking up from the tablet in her hands that she was working on. 

At first, almost the entire team was gathered around the module where Axel was held, but it became clear that he was thriving on the attention. He playfully hummed songs, walked back and forth in front of the little window, and fixed his hair in the reflection. Not only was this getting them nowhere, it was also increasingly irritating, so most of the team dismissed themselves. This way, hopefully, Daisy, Jemma and Elena could make some progress on getting more information out of the former top dog. 

Daisy sat down on one of the chairs and sighed, she felt a lot calmer after her talk with May (that she didn’t even knew she needed). Knowing that May was going to be there when she was going into labor, to coach her through it, and approach it like just another battle, would hopefully help, and the prospect calmed her nerves a bit. 

Robbie was now the main thing on her mind, the sudden painful episode he had the other day was brushed off as a panic attack by Jemma, but she wasn’t too sure and neither was Robbie. Robbie had told her at breakfast that he had decided to not go near Axel anymore, hoping that the painful experience wasn’t going to repeat itself. He knew he wasn’t the guy for the job anyway, having zero experience in interrogating suspects. So he let Daisy do her thing, so they’d hopefully get some answers, fast. And they could return home. 

“Turn on the news!” Fitz suddenly called out, seemingly coming out of nowhere and hurrying towards them. Everybody looked up, startled, but Jemma immediately turned on the big screen with her tablet and changed the channel to the news. Shown was a burned out car; apparently there had been a big explosion and the car had been identified as senator Nadeer’s. Everybody looked at each other in shock, yet none of them were really that surprised. 

“It could still be empty –“ Daisy said, but the newsreader practically cut her off by confirming they had found a body and it had been confirmed as Nadeer’s.

Daisy blinked, “This can’t be an accident…” as she looked at her team. They shook their heads in agreement, still processing the new information. 

Elena shrugged, “Can’t say I am very heartbroken over it…” and murmured something in Spanish that Daisy didn’t understand. 

Jemma shook her head, “She should’ve been brought to justice. Not like this…” 

Daisy frowned, trying to piece everything together and turned around to Axel who was just chuckling inside the pod, slowly scraping the last of the mashed potatoes off his plate. “Hey don’t look at me, I am just celebrating with this five star meal.” 

Daisy was fed up with their sassy captive, and pointed at the burnt out car on the screen. “You know anything about this?” 

“Well, you know. Once someone isn’t useful anymore, or a hindrance even, like Nadeer has become, well… what can I say,” he said, almost gleefully, tossing his fork on the table.

“So you do know who did this.” 

Axel shrugged and wiped his mouth, “Maybe.” 

“Why are you trying to cover up something for someone who clearly doesn’t treat you in the same way?”, Daisy wondered with a frown. She then squinted a bit as it suddenly hit her, “You are scared, aren’t you?” 

Axel seemed a bit taken aback by that, “Scared, me? Of course not.”

“Yes _,_ yes you _are_ afraid,” Daisy argued, walking up to the pod’s window. She felt she was on to something, and continued, “Your fellow Watchdogs didn’t hand you over to us, you probably escaped from somewhere and you knew that the _only_ safe place to be, is with us.” 

Axel, clearly agitated, sat down with his back turned to the window, and his deep voice sounded hoarse when he squeezed out of his throat “if the dessert isn’t crème brûlée, don’t bother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the BIRTH! Comments are very much appreciated <3
> 
> [Beta'd by: Wlammy]


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody, and welcome (back)! Finally Robbie and Daisy's baby is being born! This chapter was a labor of love, pun intended, and might be my favorite chapter i've ever written. 
> 
> Warning: graphic depiction of labor/birth. It's honestly not too bad, but if it's a trigger for you, now you know.
> 
> Enjoy!

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Robbie asked worried as he propped up some pillows behind her back, trying to help in relieving some of her pain. He had been going through the base, trying to collect pillows from as many agents that could spare them. 

Daisy sighed, “Yeah, my back is just hurting like crazy, I think I pushed myself too hard with interrogating Axel today,” she said, chastising herself, as she had been on her feet for _way_ too long. Axel had been in their custody for over a week now, but they still made barely any progress. The Watchdog loved the attention way too much, and Daisy was getting frustrated, to say the least. 

“I am so damn tired, I want to just _sleep_!”, she exclaimed, knowing she probably sounded pretty whiny, but didn’t care at all, “But _your_ kid is not letting me.” 

“I know, I know,” Robbie said soothingly as he grabbed the long pregnancy pillow off of the floor for her, which she instantly cradled and folded her arms and legs around, propping up her sphere of a belly so it could rest on it. He smiled at her, he had already accepted a long time ago that the tube like pillow had replaced him, but he didn’t care, as long as she was comfortable, “Better?” 

She hummed in response, her eyes already shut. Robbie softly smiled and brushed some of her hair from her face, kissing her at her hairline, and laid down beside her, only having a third of the bed left. “ _Buenas noches_ ,” he whispered lovingly.

“Night...” Daisy softly murmured in response. She looked like she was about to fall asleep, but instead she let out another hiss, her face contorted from the pain. Robbie, concerned, looked at her, but her breathing started to eventually even out as her fatigue got the best of her. He stared at her peacefully sleeping face, knowing it wouldn’t be long now before they would welcome their baby girl into the world, which surprisingly didn’t even scare him as much, like he thought it would. 

* * *

“Robbie, _Robbie…”_ Daisy said gently, as she prodded Robbie’s shoulder, trying to get him to wake up, but so far he had been pretty unresponsive. 

“Q _ué_?” he answered groggily and mid-snore, his eyes closed, still half asleep. 

Daisy smiled to herself and shook her head, “Don’t freak out but -” 

Robbie frowned and blinked and propped himself up; his brown eyes widened as he saw her standing next to him, instead of in the bed to his left. 

Daisy chuckled, “I told you to not freak out.” 

“Of course, I am going to freak out if you say ‘ _don’t freak out’!_ ”, he answered in exasperation, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, that were still adjusting to the light from the bedside lamp that Daisy had turned on. 

Daisy pointed to her side of the bed where the white sheets were darkened by a big wet spot in the middle of it. “My water broke.” 

“You’re in _labor?”_ he quickly realized in shock, when he looked to where she was pointing. 

“Sure am.” She felt another contraction hit, a small one but definitely not the Braxton hicks’ ones she had gotten used to. She exhaled and waited for it to pass as she put her hand on her belly, feeling the muscles tense beneath her fingers. 

“Okay, okay. How are you feeling? Do we have to call the hospital? Should I wake Jemma? Are you in pain?” he rattled off in a slight panic. 

Daisy smiled softly. “I am okay, it just _hurts_ , but that was to be expected. I already went to Jemma to get a pad, because I am leaking all over the place…” she said with a grimace, her leggings were practically sopping. “Can you help me get out of these leggings and into those?”, pointing at a pair of joggers on the foot of the bed.

“Yes, of course, of course,” Robbie answered, wide awake now, and jumped off the bed. He laid some towels on the matrass before helping Daisy sit down and peeled the leggings from her legs. Daisy disposed off her underwear and Robbie handed her a pair of clean ones. Daisy put the new pad inside them, before putting them on. Robbie took another towel and kneeled before her and dried her legs off for her. 

Daisy smiled at the thoughtfulness and brushed her hand through his hair before gently tugging on his ear. “Hey”, she said. Robbie looked up at her. “We’re going to have a baby today,” she whispered with a smile.

Robbie couldn’t help but think how beautiful she looked at that moment and smiled back at her. He exhaled loudly, trying to contain his nerves. “You’re really calm,” he commented, “Not that I am complaining,” and helped by pulling her foot through the leg hole of the oversized jogging pants that she had requested. 

“I am just _very_ glad to soon not be pregnant, anymore,” she remarked, only half joking, and groaned when another contraction hit. 

“You okay? How far apart are they?” Robbie asked as he pulled her other foot through the pant leg. 

Daisy grabbed his shoulder, digging her nails into his skin, leaving crested moon like indents, “Technically, still only ten to fifteen minutes apart, so plenty of time left,” She said through gritted teeth, waiting for the pain to subside, “But this one was a little closer than the others, so let’s make sure we make it to the hospital in time. We probably have to go soon.” 

Robbie pretended that her nails embedded into his skin didn’t hurt, and coached her breathing, something he had learned by doing plenty of research on Youtube in the last few months. 

Daisy inhaled sharply, glad the contraction had ebbed away and swallowed, “Wow, that one was way more painful than the ones before,” and reached for her jogging pants’ waistband, awkwardly trying to pull the elastic over her hips, which was pretty tough with limited movement. 

Robbie blinked as he just realized something, “ _Wait,_ did you say that you already went to Jemma, before waking me?” 

Daisy arched her spine and pressed her knuckles into her lower back, hoping to relieve some of the tension, “I needed a pad, didn’t have any as I haven’t had to use one in like… nine months, so she was closest by. You should’ve seen Fitz’s freaked out face,” she chuckled to herself, thinking back of the Scotsman’s shocked expression when she had marched right into their bunk, saying her water broke and that she needed help. 

“At first I thought I just peed myself, _again_ ,” she reminisced, Jemma had made her laugh so hard, earlier that week, that she had lost control of her bladder, which made them laugh even harder. “But when a contraction followed I knew it was the real deal. Didn’t want to worry you just yet, and since I was already up, I went to Jemma and May first.” 

Robbie frowned, “Wait, May, _too?”_

“Well, yeah. She needs to fly the plane to get us to the hospital.” 

Robbie rubbed his face, not really understanding the logic of waking her best friend _and_ her S.O. before waking him, but not wanting to make a big deal out of it, he changed the topic. “What time is it?” he wondered as he grabbed his phone from the nightstand. 

“Around 5.30,” Daisy answered for him, the clock on his phone confirmed it. 

For a while, (Daisy wasn’t sure for how long), she leaned on the bed, breathing through a couple of contractions, while Robbie double checked the hospital bag with the list he so diligently printed and stuck to the wardrobe door with scotch tape.

They prepared and double-checked the bag a few weeks ago, already, but Daisy let him be.

“Okay, so what do you want to do?” Robbie asked, now only noticing that he had started to pace back and forth in front of the bed.

Daisy shrugged, “Doctor Mallory said to not to worry until the contractions are five minutes apart, so… yeah, not sure. May is prepping the quinjet, though.” 

Robbie nodded and then looked to the newly installed crib in their bunk and sighed, “I wish we could take her home, instead of back here,” and sat next to Daisy on the bed. 

“Me too,” Daisy answered and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze, “But we will, I am just glad we’re finally going to meet her… _And_ that people will stop hackling us, about wanting to know her name.” 

Robbie smiled at their joined hands, “And I am just glad we finally agreed on one.” 

“That too,” Daisy said with a smile, “I think it’s perfect.” 

“Me too,” Robbie nodded, letting go of her hand and bringing his to her belly, “Can’t believe we’re finally going to meet her, It feels like it has been ages but also like… only a week ago that you showed up on the front porch with that pregnancy test in your pocket.” 

Daisy exhaled, “It’s pretty overwhelming,” she confessed. 

“You’re going to be great,” he assured her, leaning in for a kiss that Daisy gladly met. 

There was a sudden knock on the door, making the couple part from their kiss, “Come in!” Daisy said after clearing her throat. 

May let herself in, “The quinjet is ready,” she simply stated. 

Daisy gave May a nod, grateful to have her at her side for this, and Robbie stood up, taking the hospital bag and hauling it over his shoulder. “Are you ready?” he asked. 

Daisy let out a halfhearted chuckle, “Will I ever?” 

Robbie smirked and slowly shook his head while helping her off the bed, and back onto her feet. 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Daisy groaned as she felt another contraction hit. She hissed in pain, and Robbie held her upright, pressing his hand on her back as Daisy rested her forehead against his clavicle. May quickly took the bag from Robbie so he could concentrate on his girlfriend. After forty seconds or so, the pain subsided and she was able to stand up straight again. “Well this _sucks_ ,” she commented, a bit out of breath. 

Robbie slowly rubbed her back, silently trying to comfort her. 

“Come on, let’s go.” May said, offering her some support, but Daisy felt okay to walk on her own, with her arm looped through Robbie’s. 

As they walked (or waddled, in her case) out of the bunk, she was met with her team, all in their pajama’s still, and tired smiles on their faces. Jemma hurried up to her and gave her some extra pads. “In case you need them,” she said, and put them in the side pocket of the bag May was carrying. 

“Thanks, Jem,” Daisy said to her best friend, who looked quite nervous but excited. Jemma gave Daisy a quick hug before she returned to Fitz, who gave Daisy a nod and a smile. 

“Good luck,” Elena said to the pair, her deep voice sounding even more hoarse in the morning, as they walked past them. “We can’t wait to meet her”, Mack added lovingly. 

Daisy eventually reached Coulson, in his checkered pajama pants and a grey S.H.I.E.L.D. shirt. He smiled at her with so much pride it made her choke up. “We’ll see you at the hospital,” he said. Daisy swallowed and let go of Robbie to give him a hug, which took Coulson a bit by surprise but was happy to reciprocate. “I am so proud of you,” he whispered in her ear, before letting go. Daisy just gave a watery smile back and a nod, before May urged her to get into the plane and she said goodbye to everyone. 

* * *

They had made sure that Daisy was able to go through the back of the hospital and into a private birthing suite for special circumstances. She presumed it was for celebrities or something, which made her feel a bit uncomfortable, but still she was grateful to have the extra privacy and protection. Her contractions had sped up significantly when they were in the quinjet, but May, being the amazing pilot she was, had brought them to the L.A. hospital in no time. Daisy was quickly helped into a hospital gown and shown around the suite, where there were many birthing options, but Daisy just wanted her exercise ball and the people she was with. 

“Doctor Mallory will soon be with you to do a check up, and see how far you are dilated, just try and relax for now,” a friendly nurse said, whose name Daisy had already forgotten by the time she disappeared through the door. She huffed at the word ‘relax’, she knew the nurse was just doing her job, but she had no idea how she was going to relax with being constantly in excruciating pain. 

Daisy was pacing with her hands firmly placed on her lower back, the movement helping with abating the pain. She started to look around the nice suite. May had left to get herself some tea from one of the many machines scattered through the hospital wing, while Robbie had been silently unpacking some of the stuff they had brought with them. 

“Look,” he said as he shook his head, “someone snuck this in the bag,” and held up a tiny onesie with a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo printed on it. Daisy rolled her eyes and laughed, “We are not going to put her in that! Guess the S in S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t stand for subtle... or secretive...”

Robbie chuckled as he put the impossibly small onesie back, “No, I guess not.” 

Daisy heard doctor Mallory knock on the door and announce her presence, but before she could answer, another brutal contraction came up. It was nothing like she had felt before, and she almost doubled over in pain. She rested her forearms on the hospital bed, completely hunched over and with her eyes tightly shut. She tried to remember her breathing lessons but only managed to moan in pain, her knuckles turning white from clenching her fists. When the contraction finally had passed she was met with a lot of shocked faces. Doctor Mallory was holding on to the doorway, while Robbie, who had been standing next to her, held onto the hospital bed, and May who must have hurried back, had a huge tea stain on her shirt. 

“What?” she muttered, not knowing why people were looking at her like that. 

Robbie put her hand on Daisy’s back, rubbing slow circles, “You made the whole hospital wing shake.” 

Daisy looked mortified, “No… _What_? I didn’t.” 

The others nodded at her, “You did. I came running once I felt it,” May said as she was trying to rub the stain from her shirt with a paper towel. 

“For how long?” Daisy asked, her eyes still wide in shock as she watched the people around her pick up stuff that had been tumbled over. 

“For as long as your contraction lasted,” Doctor Mallory answered, coming closer to Daisy and gesturing for her to go and sit on the bed. Daisy silently complied; she was simply appalled by the fact that she wasn’t able to contain her quakes, or that she hadn’t even felt them. “It’s okay, Jessica. Or can I say Daisy now?” Mallory said with a slight smirk. 

Daisy swallowed and looked to her doctor, “Yeah, it’s Daisy. I’m sorry, I had to protect my identity for a while.” 

Doctor Mallory shook her head, making her dark curls bounce on her shoulders. “It’s okay, I already figured who you were from the first day you came into my practice.” 

Daisy looked up in shock, “Really? Why… why didn’t you say anything?” 

“I knew you had your reasons to keep your identity hidden and… I keep an eye out for my people.” 

“You’re inhuman too?” 

Mallory hummed in response, looking into Daisy’s astonished eyes. “Scoot back for me will you? I want to check how far dilated you are, and after that, let’s discuss what we can do to not have the whole maternity wing crumble down, okay?”, the doctor suggested, while putting on a latex glove. 

Daisy appreciated the doctor’s sense of humor and for not tiptoeing around her, and not having to hide who she was to an inhuman doctor, was quite the relief. She followed doctor Mallory’s instructions for the pretty invasive exam, scrunching her nose at the unpleasant feeling. 

“Okay, so you’re at seven centimeters, which means you are definitely in active labor. How far apart are your contractions?” 

Daisy helplessly looked at Robbie, who was glad to answer for her, as he had been the one timing them. “About five minutes apart.”

Mallory disposed of her glove and nodded, “Well that means if you keep this up, it won’t be very long now before you are ready to bring your baby into the world.” 

Robbie smiled excitedly at Daisy who just swallowed, trying to keep her nerves in check. 

“I don’t know how… how to contain these quakes,” she said, frustrated, as if the pain wasn’t bad enough by itself.

“What about an epidural? I know you said you didn’t want one, but maybe it could help?” May tried to come up with a solution. She had looked away when the doctor did the exam, but stepped closer after they were done. 

“I think I will have even _less_ control over them if my body is half-sedated.” Daisy said, chewing on her bottom lip. 

Doctor Mallory slowly nodded, “I agree, I think it’s better to have full control over your body, when it comes to your powers.” 

Daisy already felt the telltale signs of another contraction coming up and she looked to May, “Please, May,” she uttered, as the pain of her muscles tightening seemed to wash over her again. May quickly went up to Daisy and started to coach her through the pain by using similar techniques they used while training. After the forty or so seconds were over, Daisy looked to May again who had a warm smile on her face, “You did good.” 

Daisy swallowed and looked to the others who had similar smiles on their faces, “Now only the room shakes.” Robbie assured her, with his hands pressed against two picture frames on the wall. “Maybe we don’t need decorations for this birth”, doctor Mallory said, and took the pictures off the wall.

Daisy let out a frustrated sigh, “But it _still_ shakes.” 

“Hey, listen Daisy. It’s okay, if you can try to contain like you did just now, then that’s fine. But I do have to warn you, the contractions are going to be even more intense once labor progresses”, Mallory said, still as calm as ever.

Daisy groaned, she couldn’t believe it could get even worse than this, but at least her daughter was as eager to come out, as she was for her to exit her body. 

“I’ll leave you guys be, you can call me, or one of the nurses if something is up, and I will swing by in an hour or so to check your dilation. For now, do whatever that makes you feel comfortable, and keep up being amazing, okay?” the doctor said, giving Daisy’s hand a reassuring squeeze, which instantly made Daisy relax, as the woman had the amazing ability to make her feel at ease. 

* * *

Daisy couldn’t help letting out a howl from the pain; she was squatting next to the bed, being held up by Robbie and May who was speaking encouraging words, trying to reduce the vibrations spreading through the room, and sometimes preventing the paper cup with ice chips from tipping over. It had been a while, but their support didn’t waver. Sweat poured down Daisy’s back as she leaned forward on either the bed or leaned back against Robbie, who sat crouched down behind her on the floor. 

May brushed away the sweaty strands of hair that were sticking to Daisy’s forehead and laid a cool wet cloth on her burning face. Daisy sighed from the cool relief and tried to put her hair up, but her arms were too tired, and she sank back against Robbie’s shoulder with a groan. Without a word, May quickly combed Daisy’s hair with her fingers and braided it to the side. She pulled the hair elastic from her own hair and tied it around Daisy’s, just in time before she folded over in agony with the next contraction.

Robbie put the cool cloth in Daisy’s neck and nodded gratefully at May, who kept repeating comforting words to Daisy, and nodded back without missing a beat.

Doctor Mallory came in and waited for Daisy’s contraction to pass before doing yet another exam on how far dilated she was. It had been an hour or two and labor was progressing nicely, although it just felt like a long pain-induced haze to Daisy. 

“Okay Daisy, good news, you are officially ten centimeters dilated and fully effaced, that means that we can finally start to bring your baby out into the world, okay?” 

Daisy nodded and let out a single sob, profoundly relieved to finally know she was able to do _something_ , instead of just helplessly going through the motion of endless contractions. 

Everything was suddenly moving very fast, and Robbie and May helped Daisy onto the bed. Doctor Mallory had gotten protective clothing for everyone and summoned some of the nurses, that came rushing in. Robbie quickly sat down at the head of the bed, behind Daisy, his strong chest supporting her while she didn’t have the strength to do so herself.

Daisy groaned again. The pain from the contraction wasn’t anything like she had felt before, and tears were running down her face. Even May’s comforting and helpful words were now lost in the brutality of nature. 

“Okay, push, push, push…” Mallory encouraged at her feet. Daisy followed her instructions, it felt amazing to _finally_ be allowed to bear down and push. That same relief, however, caused the room to quake like it hadn’t before, and carts and medical equipment started to clatter, tumble and fall everywhere, even some of the blinds came down. Daisy let herself fall backwards after the contraction passed, and looked shocked at the mess she had caused, heaving to get some more air into her lungs. Robbie dabbed the sweat from her forehead with the cloth, with Daisy’s hand still squeezed tightly around his. 

“It’s okay, Daisy,” Mallory said, trying to reassure her patient, as nurses quickly cleared stuff off the floor. 

“It’s not!” she wailed, “I can’t control it, I can’t!” and felt a new contraction already come to surface. Daisy cried out, “It’s too much!” and whipped her head from side to side. 

“Daisy, _listen_ , you can do this!” May tried, but Daisy was unresponsive to her encouraging words. 

“Okay, Daisy, Daisy, you have to push, okay,” Mallory said placed her hand on Daisy’s ankle. 

Suddenly a large portion of the pain seemed to ebb away, and even her heart started to beat at a less frantic pace. Daisy blinked at her doctor, and whispered, “So, _that’s_ what you do.” 

“Yes, now push for me, okay? You can do this.” 

Daisy gave a determined nod and bore down again. With doctor Mallory’s ability to reduce a big portion of the pain, it seemed like she was in control of her body and powers again and after a few strong pushes it was announced that she was crowing and that the top of the baby’s head was already visible. 

Daisy glanced over shoulder at Robbie, as if to say, “go ahead, have a look!”, and he hurried to the other end of the bed, while a nurse immediately stuffed pillows behind Daisy’s back. With his hand on his chest, he looked at the little tuft of hair in disbelief, and with a radiant smile he said, “ _Dios mío!_ Daisy! That’s her!” 

Daisy managed to smile back at him, before she felt the urge to push again. Encouraged by his excitement, she called for Robbie to come back and support her, and it only took a few more tries, a lot of pain, sweat, and a big gush, before she felt the baby’s head being born. May, who, steady like a rock, had held her hand on Daisy’s knee the entire time, now turned her head to look at the baby’s little face and smiled. It would be over soon! She gave Daisy’s knee a reassuring squeeze.

“Okay, that’s her head, one more big push for the shoulders and then you can hold her!” Mallory encouraged, still with her hand planted firmly on Daisy’s ankle. 

Daisy looked to Robbie who cupped the side of her face with his hand, and brushed his thumb along her cheekbone while resting his head against her forehead for a second. “You can do this,” he whispered. 

Daisy felt the last of her contractions, and with a loud cry she pushed again, as hard as she could, and to the faint background noise of the last set of blinds falling to the floor in the vibrating room, she _finally_ felt the baby leave her body.

Everybody let out a sigh in relief. “There she is!”, singsonged doctor Mallory, quickly pulling the crying baby in the air and placing her on Daisy’s belly. 

“Hey, baby... hey baby…” Daisy repeated, with her arms feeling like jelly, but instinctively able to hold the weeping baby onto her chest. She heard something about cutting the umbilical cord, but all her attention was on her baby. She couldn’t believe she was finally here, that the red, squirmy thing with a dark patch of hair was her _daughter_. 

“She’s perfect,” Robbie said, a little hoarse and with tears in his eyes, his hand shaking as he followed the curve of the tiny ear shell of his newborn daughter. 

“I’m sorry, but we have to take her now, to do a quick exam and clean her up a bit, okay Daisy? She’ll be back before you know it,” Mallory said, as a nurse gently took her baby from her. Daisy’s arms had never felt more empty, and she immediately instructed Robbie to stay close to their newborn, while doctor Mallory helped her by delivering the placenta and cleaning her up. “No stitches, you’re lucky.” 

Daisy just nodded, not totally comprehending what was going on, or what everybody was saying as she felt extremely overwhelmed and _tired,_ and she turned to May, blinking in astonishment, “I’m a _mom.”_

May looked at her, with as much pride as when Daisy was fully able to knock out an opponent in the ring, maybe even more, “You sure are.” 

The same nurse that had taken the baby came back with her, who was now cozily swaddled in a blanket with a small cap on her little head. Daisy opened her arms and the baby was put in her embrace. “Hi, little one,” she whispered, gently rocking her daughter, the baby’s dark brown eyes visible through small slits. Daisy leaned over and placed a careful kiss on her baby’s head, reveling in that typical new baby smell. 

“She’s perfectly healthy, ten fingers and ten toes,” the nurse said with a smile. Daisy looked up and gratefully smiled back, before returning her gaze to her baby. 

Doctor Mallory looked to the nurses and gave them a nod, “Okay, Daisy. We will let you guys be for a while, I’ll be right around the corner if you need me, okay? And congratulations, you did amazing.” 

“Thank you,” Daisy breathed out, barely looking up from the face with the smallest features she had ever seen. The baby was a little less red and upset now, and her little frowns and yawns were hypnotizing.

Mallory smiled and quietly left the suite, leaving Robbie, May and Daisy with their new family member. “The others are almost here,” May said softly, looking at the happy couple saying soft nothings to their daughter, “But I’ll let you guys have a moment before I’ll call them in, okay.” 

Daisy gave May a nod, “Thank you… for everything May, I couldn’t have done it without you.” 

“Of course”, May answered and smiled, before leaving the room. 

Daisy let out a deep breath; she couldn’t believe it was finally over. After months she was able to hold the baby that had been growing inside of her, and she looked to Robbie to ask the question she had been looking forward to the most: “You wanna hold her?” 

Robbie gave her a nervous but excited smile and gently took his daughter from her, gasping at how small she was. Daisy had only been 38 weeks pregnant before she went into labor, resulting in a smaller baby, but even with that knowledge, she still looked impossibly tiny to him. “ _Hola mi hija_ ,” he whispered while gently rocking her in his arms, “ _Yo soy tu papi._ ” He was just absolutely reveling in the fact that he was holding his daughter for the first time, and placed a soft kiss on the little forehead. He looked to Daisy for a second, who was staring at him with tears freely running down her cheeks. “She’s _perfect_ ,” he breathed out, getting teary eyed himself, “Thank you.” 

Daisy gave him a watery smile and a simple nod in return, letting her body relax into the pillow. 

Robbie looked back at his daughter again, carefully adjusting the tiny pale yellow cap she was wearing, that had almost fallen off and whispered, “You know, your mommy wore a beanie too when I first met her.” 

He beamed, still slowly rocking from side to side, mesmerized by her tiny eyelashes and little sighs.

Daisy let out a tired chuckle, and Robbie walked back to Daisy and gently handed their daughter over to her. “I think I rocked her to sleep,” he whispered proudly. Daisy looked and saw that their baby had indeed fallen asleep. “Do you want to sleep, too?” he asked Daisy as he sat down on the edge of the matrass, not taking his eyes off his daughter. 

Daisy shook her head, “No I am okay, for now,” as the adrenaline hadn’t worn off yet. 

There was a gentle knock on the door, Daisy thought it was probably May but a nurse showed up with a gentle smile on her face. “Hi, I am a lactation specialist looking if you need some help feeding your baby?” 

Daisy, feeling a little blindsided, blinked and looked at her sleeping daughter, “Oh um... She’s asleep…” 

The nurse smiled, “That’s okay, means she’s not hungry yet, I’ll come back later when she’s awake, or you can come and get me when she is, okay?” 

Daisy smiled back, relieved the nurse solved the problem so easily. “Okay, thanks.” She exhaled loudly, trying to take it all in without getting too overwhelmed. 

The nurse looked to Robbie, who couldn’t help but have this constant proud grin on his face, “You ready to invite some guests or…?” 

Daisy nodded, wanting to introduce the new team member to what she considered to be her family, “Finally we can reveal her name,” and let out a deep breath, “I am nervous.” 

Robbie gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, “They’ll love it. It’s perfect.”

Daisy nodded and watched Robbie leave the room, the door swinging shut behind him. Daisy looked back at the peacefully sleeping baby in her arms with bleary eyes, she had been so worried that she didn’t even know how to even properly hold a baby, but from the moment she had laid her eyes on her, it seemed to come natural to her, and her worries had faded away. 

Daisy looked up again as she heard the doors open and Robbie coming in with a proud smile, followed by May and Coulson. 

Coulson slowly walked over to the agent he considered to be his daughter and let out a soft gasp. “She’s beautiful,” he said, admiring the tiny bundle in Daisy’s arms, “ _Wow_.” 

“You want to hold her?” Daisy offered, swallowing down the lump in her throat at seeing Coulson with so much love in his eyes already. She instantly knew he’d be as loyal to her daughter as he was to her. 

“She’s asleep,” Coulson answered hesitantly, not wanting to disrupt the tiny baby sleeping in her arms, but with his hands practically reached out, longing to admire this little human up close.

Daisy nodded encouragingly, “It’s okay. She’s fine, I promise.” 

Robbie carefully took his newborn daughter from Daisy, placing another soft kiss on the baby’s cheek, before handing her over to Coulson. Coulson gently held the tiny bundle and instinctively rocked her in his arms, and whispered sweet nothings. “She looks so much like you, Daisy,” he said in awe, “Just a lot tinier.” 

Daisy let out a chuckle, adoring how enamored Coulson was with her daughter. Robbie quickly took out his phone from his back pocket to snap some pictures and gave Daisy a wink. Coulson then looked up at May and offered her to hold the baby. May nervously smiled, and gave a nod, taking the baby from Coulson wordlessly and smiled at the softly mewling baby with a warmth May only reserved for those dearest to her.

“Where’s the rest?” Daisy suddenly noticed, as only Coulson had shown up. Coulson looked at May for a second before turning his gaze to Daisy, “Axel has slipped up, gave us key information on who was funding this whole operation. They’re tracking him down as of now, they told me to congratulate you and everyone will visit when they can.” 

Daisy blinked, the whole Watchdog situation seems miles away. Finally, they had made some progress and she wasn’t even there for it. She let out a chuckle, of course Axel slipped up without her there. “Wow, well okay then,” she answered, relieved that there was lead, and looked to May who was still slowly rocking her daughter. 

“Maybe it’s for the best that the rest aren’t here yet, as we wanted to reveal her name.” 

Robbie smiled at her, “Yes, let’s.” 

Coulson and May looked at her, Coulson’s expression eager. 

Daisy took a deep breath, holding Robbie’s hand, “We decided on her first name to be, Isadora, after Robbie’s mom.” 

Coulson gasped and smiled, his blue eyes sparkling, “That’s _beautiful_.” 

He bent over the baby in May’s arms and quietly cooed “Hello Isadora!”

“And May, we wanted to ask you if it was ok... only if you want to, for her second name to be May…” 

May looked up in shock, from the baby cradled in her arms, “After me?” and stared back at the little girl in her arms, not believing they’d bestow such an honor upon her by naming an actual human after her. 

Daisy nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat down, “You have been so amazing throughout this journey, and she needs a strong role model, and you were there when I needed you most, without question.” 

May blinked and looked at the baby in her arms, “I am honored,” she eventually said, feeling the tears burn in her eyes.

Coulson looked pleased, “So, Isadora May Johnson-Reyes?” 

Daisy chuckled at the long name for such a tiny baby, and looked at Robbie, who replied, “Yes, but we’re probably just going to call her Izzy for short, Izzy Reyes.” 

May walked back to Daisy and carefully handed her the baby back, “It suits her.” 

Izzy started to stir, and whimpered in her arms, “I think she’s getting hungry,” Daisy said with a frown, and looked to Robbie who gave her a nod, “I’ll get the lactation specialist.” 

Coulson smiled at her, and put his hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze, “We will leave you guys be.” He put his hand on May’s lower back and guided her out of the room, in what seemed to be the start of a celebratory hug.

Daisy watched them leave and looked at her whimpering baby, “It’s okay, you’re okay, I am here.” 

Robbie soon came back with the specialist in tow, who helped her undress and assisted in her baby getting a good latch. Daisy frowned at the weird feeling, but soon adjusted to it, while Robbie looked proudly at his girlfriend and daughter. He took out his phone again, snapping several pictures. He couldn’t imagine a more perfect sight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There she is! I hope you guys enjoyed, I know many of you wanted some moments with the 'grandparents' and don't worry, the rest of the team is next!
> 
> Thank you to my amazing beta Wlammy for going through all of it, you're my rock!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry for not uploading last week! My lovely beta Wlammy was on a well deserved vacation, so I wasn't gonna bother her lol. Enjoy!

“Only one more, and we can get out of here,” Robbie lovingly whispered to his daughter as he fastened the final snap button of Izzy’s onesie between his thumb and index finger. He had just put her in a fresh diaper and dressed her in an adorable teal colored onesie with horizontal pinstripes and tiny white socks to match. It was the outfit they had chosen to bring her back home in (not the S.H.I.E.L.D. onesie that was snuck in by someone who hadn’t fessed up to it yet).

He smiled to himself, he wasn’t great at diapering yet, but he was getting there (after some help from the nurses), and Izzy didn’t seem to mind his handiwork by the soft cooing she was doing. He picked her up carefully, his one hand supporting her head and the other her diapered butt. He brushed his nose through her soft patch of dark hair and grinned. “ _Te quiero mucho…_ ” he whispered. When Coulson said she looked like Daisy, he wasn’t kidding. You could definitely see the resemblance from the one rare baby picture that Daisy still had from the orphanage. 

Daisy exited the bathroom, and slowly shook her head, but with a grin on her face, “She got you wrapped around her tiny little finger, hasn’t she?” 

Robbie chuckled, “Guilty as charged,” and carefully lowered Izzy into the car seat. 

“I got a text from May, the quinjet is ready,” Daisy announced, and she walked over to the bed with the hospital bag they brought. Walking wasn’t pleasant yet, her body still felt incredibly raw, even if she hadn’t needed stitches. Of course it had only been a day since she had given birth, but her body still felt weirdly foreign to her. 

She reached for her hoodie and put the last of her stuff, that had been scattered on the bed,in the bag, and zipped it shut.

There was a sudden knock on the door which made Daisy and Robbie look up. They saw doctor Mallory appear with a smile on her face. “Well, according to the nurses you two got a clean bill of health, so you can officially go home.” 

Daisy smiled, she had grown fond of the doctor that helped deliver her baby, and walked over to her. “Thank you so much for everything,” and shook her hand, “I couldn’t have done it without you. Although, you could’ve used your pain reducing ability a little earlier on me...”, she joked. 

Mallory let out a heartfelt laugh, “Well, you see, when I use my powers to soften the pain of others, it just doesn’t just disappear, it channels back to me. That’s why I tend to not use it a lot… besides you were handling it like a champ!” 

Daisy blinked, she hadn’t even thought of what the consequences of her doctor’s powers could entail, “Oh, I am _so_ sorry, I didn’t know!” 

Doctor Mallory shook her head, “It’s okay, I am glad I could help bring your baby into the world, she’s precious.” They both looked at the sleeping baby in the car seat, which was being held by a proud looking Robbie, who had been carefully adjusting the straps. 

Daisy swallowed down the lump in her throat; her hormones were still all over the place and every little thing made her weepy. “Anyway, again, thank you so much,” she repeated.

Doctor Mallory waved her off, “It’s what I do! And I will happily assist you when the next time comes around,” she said teasingly and with a wink. 

Daisy groaned, “I can’t even imagine going through all this for a second time, not in a few years, _at least_.” 

Mallory chuckled and laid her hand on her shoulder, “Good luck.” 

Daisy gave the doctor a nod and watched her leave through the door. Only a moment later a nurse appeared with a wheelchair, “Ready to go?” 

Daisy knew protesting was futile when it came to hospital policy and carefully sat down, hissing when she adjusted her weight. “Okay, let’s not keep Coulson and May waiting.” 

* * *

Daisy was gently bouncing her crying daughter in her arms, ignoring how sore her own body was, and softly hushing her. She had just tried to feed her, but the baby had zero interest in being fed and had started wailing even louder. Daisy pulled her top back down, not wanting to accidentally expose herself in front of Coulson and May, who were in the cockpit of the quinjet. “Well this _sucks_ , doesn’t it, Izzy?” Daisy commented, making sure to sound perky, as she walked past Robbie for the third time trying to console her baby. 

Robbie hated seeing his newborn daughter so upset, and his exhausted girlfriend so uncomfortable, and scratched his eyebrow, trying to think of something. “Wait…” he realized, “ _Sucks_!” and started rummaging through the hospital bag. 

Daisy rolled her eyes, “Yeah, it sucks.” 

“No, no,” he grinned, and walked up to her with a pacifier in his hand, “Maybe this will help?”

They had packed one, but hadn’t thought of using it yet, because Izzy had been an easy-going baby, and had barely cried since she came into the world. Daisy gasped, and eagerly took the pacifier from Robbie and offered it to her weeping baby. Izzy seemed to have no interest in it for a while, but then promptly started suckling, and the sound of wailing echoing through the quinjet finally ceased. 

“You’re a genius,” Daisy said to Robbie and exhaled in relief.

“Must be the altitude putting pressure on her little ears,” Robbie mused, brushing his thumb gently alongside Izzy’s little cheek that was splotchy from crying. 

Daisy hummed and walked Izzy to the car seat, (or quinjet seat in their case), and lowered the now content baby in it, before fastening the straps. Daisy beamed at her comforted daughter, and watched the baby’s eyes grow heavy. 

Robbie put his hand on Daisy’s lower back, and kissed her shoulder, “How’re you feeling?” 

“Sore,” she answered pensively, but then smiled at him, “and overwhelmed, and happy, and terrified, and tired, and nervous… you know… the whole shebang.” 

Robbie nodded, and pulled her a little closer as they watched their baby sleep. “I can’t believe you made her.” 

Daisy let out a chuckle, “You helped, you know.” 

He huffed, “Barely, I just had a fun night, you did the rest.” 

Daisy softly smiled, “It was worth it, though.” 

“I think so too…” and he let his mind wander for a while as they silently stood there. Eventually, he broke the silence. “Did you mean it?”

Daisy hummed absentmindedly, her eyes glued to the baby, “Mean what?”

“That you’d want to go through all this again?” 

Daisy couldn’t help but snicker, and reached for his hand, and tanged her fingers with his, “Let’s focus on this one for now, shall we?”

Robbie’s eyes were still on her, waiting for an answer, so she let out a deep sigh, “In a few years, yeah, I think so. I don’t want her to grow up an only child like I had to. But with what’s still going on in the world right now, it’s scary. I have no idea what the future brings…” 

Robbie brought her hand to his lips and gave it a kiss. “As long as we’re together, everything is going to be fine,” he said, almost whispering. 

* * *

Once the quinjet had arrived back at the base, Daisy and Robbie but especially Izzy were met with lots of friendly faces. Jemma, overly excited, almost stormed towards the couple and gasped at the little sleeping baby inside the car seat. Daisy had already shared the baby’s name and dozens of pictures with her team, but of course it was nothing like the real thing. “Welcome, _Isadora_ ,” Jemma singsonged, cooing at the still napping baby, “She’s beautiful, you guys.” 

Fitz had stepped closer too with a big smile on his face, congratulating the couple and handed Robbie a helium balloon in the form of a monkey. “I see she’s not wearing her S.H.I.E.L.D. onesie…” he teased, Robbie grinned, “So it was you?” Fitz shrugged with a little smile, but didn’t deny it. 

“I’ll take her out of the carrier when she’s done sleeping, I think she needs to be fed soon anyway,” Daisy said to Jemma, as she looked around the base. “Mack and Elena on mission?” 

Jemma sighed, “Yeah… they asked me to tell you that they’re sorry the can’t meet her yet, but they’re following that lead.” 

Daisy let out a deep breath, “I am just glad we _have_ a lead, and they’re following up on it so we can finally put this Watchdog thing to rest.” 

There were sudden loud beeping noises coming from the lab and everybody looked towards its direction, “Jemma…” Fitz said, trying to keep the urgency out of his voice as to not wake the baby, “We need to get back.” 

He again congratulated the couple, and hurried back to the lab. 

“I am so sorry,Daisy,” Jemma apologized. 

Daisy waved her apology away, “Please, don’t be. Go! We need to settle in anyway.” 

Jemma gave Daisy a quick hug, made a regretful noise at the peacefully sleeping baby, and rushed back to the lab. Daisy slowly shook her head at her friends, reminiscing to when she would be the one springing into action. 

She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked to her side. Coulson was smiling at her, “Welcome back, family Johnson-Reyes, we will leave you guys be. May and I are also needed for this mission but don’t hesitate to call if something’s up, okay?” 

Daisy smiled softly, “Thank you, Coulson.” 

May gave Daisy a nod from a distance, and they both headed back to Coulson’s office, leaving Robbie and Daisy with some other agents they had gotten friendly with over the last few months. They all congratulated them, and after a few thank you’s the couple could finally settle in back at their bunk. 

* * *

Daisy was glad all of the bunks were made soundproof, as her baby had _not_ been happy since she woke up from her nap. Her diaper was dry, she wasn’t tired or in any sort of pain, so they figured she must be hungry. Even though Izzy had been a champ at feeding when they were still at the hospital, she had been having a hard time since they gotten back.

Seeing her baby in distress was hard, and definitely something to get used to, and with her body still aching from having just given birth, Daisy started to get frustrated. Her breasts were getting painful, so when Izzy finally latched, the couple let out a relieved breath. “Thank god,” Daisy sighed, and looked down at her now content baby, peacefully drinking, acting like nothing had happened. 

Robbie exhaled audibly as he sat down next to Daisy on the bed, watching his daughter nurse. “So... turns out parenting a newborn is hard, who would’ve thought?”, he joked. 

Daisy adjusted her hold a little, propping up a pillow under her arms and let out a combination of a groan and a chuckle. They both just watched their infant for a minute, reveling in the silence. “Can I get you something?” Robbie eventually asked, looking at the clock, noticing it was already 10pm. “The lactation woman said that when she drinks, you need to drink, right?”

“A beer.” Daisy joked half-heartedly, and then sighed, “tea, please.” 

Robbie nodded, and kissed her forehead before dragging himself off the bed, and he opened the bunk door, “I’ll be right back.” 

Daisy just hummed in response, her eyes still glued to the baby in her arms. Robbie smiled and quietly left the room.

Robbie sauntered towards the kitchen area, and he suddenly felt how tired he was. His eyes were drooping and his step was faltering. He blinked and lazily rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Luckily the base was nearly empty at this time of night. Mack and Elena were still on mission trying to catch the man behind the Watchdogs, and the rest of the team had retreated to their respective bunks. Robbie sighed as he slowly made his way through the hallways of the dark base, when he suddenly noticed the containment module was still lit. He walked a little closer, but jumped when he heard a man’s voice suddenly greet him, he then chuckled when he recognized agent Davis sitting in a corner scrolling on his tablet. “Davis! You startled me.”

Davis had a smile on his face and got up and greeted Robbie by giving him a big bro-hug, “Hey daddy, welcome back! How’re things?” 

Robbie smiled, his heart full as he thought of Daisy and his newborn daughter, “Just perfect, baby is still adjusting a little to her new surroundings but she’s doing amazing, here let me,” as he took out his phone and showed Davis a bunch of baby pictures he took at the hospital and when they arrived at the base today, “That’s my Isa.” 

Davis grinned, and gave his tired friend a pat on the back, “Congrats, man.” 

“And how’s your wife?” Robbie asked, putting his phone back in his back pocket. 

Davis sighed, “She’s frustrated, jealous of Daisy that she has already gone into labor. I am going on parental leave after the weekend.” 

“Good…” Robbie answered and remembered Axel in the containment module, “Why is he still in there?”

Davis shrugged, “They didn’t think he has given them all the information, so he’s still here. He’s become very silent though, I think he knows he messed up. And I am just keeping watch.” 

Robbie remembered full well why he had been avoiding the containment module after the painful episode he had weeks prior, but was surprised he didn’t feel anything at the moment, even though he was in its proximity. Encouraged by the lack of reaction or pain, Robbie approached the stark white module where he was met with a very bored looking Axel, who at first didn’t even realize someone was observing him.

When their eyes met, however, suddenly the pain came back threefold, making Robbie instantly fall down onto his knees and scream in agony.

Davis hurried towards Robbie, trying to figure out what had happened, pulling him off the ground. Robbie couldn’t do anything but pant, as he felt the enormous tug of the Ghost Rider wanting to take over. Davis staggered back seeing Robbie’s face dissolve into the skull of the Rider. Normally Robbie was able to have the upper hand when it came to who was in charge, but not this time. Axel took steps back in the module, pressing his back against the honeycomb wall, as he saw the Rider look at him with his eyes glowing like ember. Davis saw how the Ghost Rider was trying to get in pod and tried to stop him, which only resulted in the Rider pushing him forcefully to the ground. 

Davis quickly crawled to where he left his tablet and grabbed it, immediately sounding the emergency alarm, making the base light up with red flashing lights and the piercing sound of sirens. It didn’t faze the Ghost Rider, though, who went to the sliding doors of the module and with a loud grunt forced them open. Once inside, he paused, and just stared at the frail giant in front of him.

Axel’s terrified expression soon turned into something indescribable from Davis’ point of view, when they seemed to have a conversation. Davis heard nothing but the sirens and the roaring of fire, but Axel hesitated, blinked, and then muttered a “yes”. His face looked determined when suddenly he too, screamed in agony, falling to his knees and digging his nails into the floor.

Robbie’s body fell unconscious to the ground; hitting his head on the sharp corner of the module’s bed, blood slowly gushing from his wound. Axel screamed “no!” as his head was now the one on fire, his face melting away as the skull became visible and the flames scorched the white of the ceiling. 

A team of agents came running in, followed by Coulson and May who couldn’t believe their eyes as they saw the Ghost Rider simply step over Robbie’s body and out of the module. May took out her ICER and tried to shoot at the hell demon but it was futile, as he simply kept walking.

Other agents were now firing their ICER’s too but it only delayed him a little, and Coulson yelled for everyone to stay back. Daisy now came into the room too, a baby monitor securely clipped on the waistband of her pants, and she watched the Ghost Rider, who was clearly not in Robbie’s body anymore, come towards them. Before she could quake the Rider through the base, he paused and gave her a nod. Daisy frowned, confused about what the demon was trying to tell her.

When the Ghost Rider stepped aside, she gasped when she saw Robbie unconscious on the ground of the pod, the white slowly staining red by the blood from his head wound.

The demon grabbed some heavy chains that were keeping the storage locked. He was easily capable of breaking the lock, and making the chains light up in his hands.

Everybody stared with wide eyes and open mouths at the Ghost Rider who started swiveling the chain around, making a circle in the air that lit up with sparks and slowly formed into a portal. The Ghost Rider stared at the terrified agents, let out a grunt and simply stepped through the portal, which quickly dissolved into nothing as if it hadn’t ever been there. 

It only took Daisy a second before she could snap herself out of what just happened and ran towards Robbie, dropped down to her knees and pulled his head onto her lap. She was relieved to feel his strong heartbeat underneath her finger tops and screamed for medical help. Soon Jemma rushed towards her and fell onto her knees too, pushing a piece of cloth against the head wound. Daisy repeatedly called for Robbie’s name but he remained unconscious. Davis and Coulson assisted Jemma in picking him up and hurrying his body towards the medical area. 

Daisy followed Jemma and the men, where Jemma did a quick exam and was able to ease Daisy’s worries, as he was fine, apart from the slash above his eyebrow that required stitches. They only had to wait for him to wake up to be sure. Daisy watched as Jemma skillfully stitched up Robbie’s wound and waited for him to regain consciousness, seeing how slowly a bruise was starting to bloom on his forehead. Daisy sat next to Robbie, trying to make sense of what had just happened and felt torn for leaving Izzy at the bunk, even though she had her monitor with her and the baby was peacefully asleep; not knowing her daddy had been in mortal danger. 

May was keeping watch on the couple from a distance, and Daisy could feel her eyes burning on her, she looked over her shoulder and May instantly knew Daisy needed for her to check up on her baby. May gave her a nod, “I’ll check.”

Daisy let out a relieved sigh, not wanting Robbie to wake up without her next to him. After a few minutes Daisy could see and hear May enter the bunk through the monitor and watched how May picked up her daughter who must’ve woken up and slowly rocked her in her arms, humming at the baby. 

Daisy knew Izzy was safe with her namesake and focused back on Robbie who slowly started to stir. She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, Robbie’s eyes slowly opened and blinked a few times, “What happened…” but quickly remembered himself, he looked confused at Daisy, “Isa?” 

Daisy couldn’t help but smile that it was the first thing that came to his mind, “She’s with May.” She assured him, which seemed to relax him.

Robbie swallowed, “He’s gone.” 

Daisy nodded, “He is.” 

Robbie let out a shuttering breath, “I-I, couldn’t contain him anymore, once I came close to Axel. He suddenly spoke into my mind that he couldn’t survive with me as his host, he needed someone with anger and pain and… that just wasn’t me anymore. So he… he went for Axel. I heard him talk to Axel I just couldn’t speak… Ghost Rider asked the same thing of him what he did to me when… when I was dying after… you know the story.” 

Daisy hushed, “It’s okay… It’s okay, Ghost Rider took Axel and formed some sort of portal. I don’t know where they went but it looked like what I imagine hell could be like...”

Robbie closed his eyes, the pain in his head intensified by the bright lights of the room, “Could well be hell.” He slowly moved his hand to the freshly stitched up wound and hissed. Guess I am mortal now,” he realized, half relieved, half terrified as he looked to Daisy. 

She brought his hand to her face, “It’s what you wanted, right? You’re a mortal dad now.”

Robbie swallowed, still dizzy from his fall, and slowly nodded with the hint of a smirk. He whispered “I just can’t believe he’s gone,” realizing it had been ages since he hadn’t felt the constant burning of the Ghost Rider deep inside his soul. He looked at Daisy and mustered up a smile, “Guess I still owe you that cup of tea, huh?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mortal Robbie! What do you guys think? Comments are very much appreciated, until next time!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the long wait, I was so preoccupied with other fics that I kind of forgot to finish it lol. But I felt guilty so with the massive help of my beta Wlammy we managed to finally finish this story! I adore these two still so much! Enjoy!

Robbie slowly opened one eye, awakened from his deep slumber by the sound of soft singing. He frowned, letting out a silent hiss as he had momentarily forgotten about the wound above his eyebrow, and he slowly turned around. 

He was met with Daisy, who was sitting up in the bed, leaning against the headboard with their daughter resting on her bent legs. 

Daisy had her hair in a messy bun on top of her head, far away from the baby’s grabby little hands, and was wearing one of his old shirts and sleep shorts. Isa seemed enthralled by her mother’s singing, her big brown eyes locked onto Daisy’s, letting out soft gurgling noises.

“How come we have a baby together but I didn’t even know you could sing,” he commented, in disbelieve that this was his life now, while he looked at the mother-daughter duo.

Daisy momentarily looked at him and shook her head, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Robbie propped himself up, resting his head on the palm of his hand. “I am serious.”

Daisy chuckled, and moved her head closer to her daughter, the tip of her nose brushing against that of the tiny infant. “Your daddy is being silly.” 

Robbie sat up, leaning his back against the headboard too, his shoulder brushing Daisy’s. He reached out for the baby’s little starfish hand with his index finger, that she immediately clamped her tiny digits around. “And your mommy can’t take a compliment.”

Daisy grinned and hummed the last of the song’s lyric and focused on Robbie. “How’re you feeling?”

Robbie swallowed, still in a lot of pain; in all honesty, he could feel the wound throbbing and his eyes had become super light sensitive, but he had downplayed it at the medical wing of the base so that Jemma would let him go to heal in their own bed instead of alone in a hospital bed. “Guess I am not used to having to heal longer than a few hours.”

“Welcome back to us mere mortals,” she joked, and gave him a quick good morning kiss.

Robbie hummed, and looked back at Isa who was enthralled by her parents’ voices, tiny feet kicking out against Daisy’s waistband. “Glad to be back,” he breathed out, with a soft smile, silently musing about his new life without the constant pull of the Ghost Rider seeking vengeance.

“What time is it?” he eventually asked, lazily trying to reach his phone on the nightstand.

Daisy let out a chuckle, “It’s ten in the morning.”

“ Ten ?”, he repeated in shock, putting in a little more effort in grabbing his phone, fumbling with the charger as he was confronted with a big one and zero displayed on its screen, “why didn’t you wake me?”

“Because…” she said as she pointed at his left eye, “You are healing.” She adjusted Izzy, carefully pulling her onto her chest so she could stretch her legs. The baby let out a soft grunt in dismay but accepted it soon after. Daisy kissed the downy top of the baby’s head, lightly resting her hand on Izzy’s back.

Robbie groaned, and pinched his nose, was it always so bright in here? 

“Well, good morning then… Can I get you some breakfast or something?” He offered, feeling useless towards his young family.

Daisy shook her head. “No, Izzy and I already grabbed a bowl of cereal, managed do dodge the majority of agents wanting to hold or admire this one,” she said with a smile as she gently padded the baby’s back, “But I have some good news for you, Mack and Elena will be returning today according to Coulson.”

That made Robbie perk up, “You mean… they got him?”

Daisy shrugged, “They said they had good news, so I hope so. They’re heading back from Russia, so it’s going to be a few more hours.”

Robbie blinked, “Wow, okay, so if they got him… well I guess that means we can go home?”

Daisy smiled softly, trying not to think of her family here, “That’s what I’m thinking.”

Robbie let out a relieved breath, “That’s… amazing.”

Daisy managed to sit up a little and nodded, “Can you watch her for a bit, I really wanna take a shower.”

Robbie seemed more than pleased and scooped his daughter from Daisy’s chest, resulting in some soft grunts from Isa but she quickly settled down in her daddy’s arms.

Daisy got up from the bed and looked at the father-daughter-duo with a pensive frown. “I just fed her, so she’ll probably be fine, it’s been a while since I changed her diaper, though, so if she’s -.”

“Go! Go shower, we can manage,” Robbie interjected, slowly shaking his head but with a grin on his face.

Daisy sent him an apologetic smile and disappeared into the bathroom. Robbie heard the shower being turned on and focused back on the baby in his arms. 

“We can finally go home Izzy, you might think this is your home but I promise you, your new one is way better. I bet everyone is going to miss you here, though…”

Izzy wasn’t really paying attention anymore, her eyes were slowly falling shut, her chubby cheek mushed against Robbie’s chest, probably enjoying the rumble of his voice and his steady heartbeat. “I am going to miss them too, but I am worried about your mommy, you see, this is her family… and now your family. I hope we’re going to be able to find some balance. Your uncle Gabe really wants to meet you too,” he said, drifting off into deep thought as he slowly rubbed the baby’s back with his fingertips.

* * *

Mack hissed as Jemma carefully cleaned the gash on the back of his head. “You have to sit still,” she replied friendly yet sternly and continued caring for the improperly cared for wound. 

Everyone on the team had gathered at medical, Mack required some stitches but it wasn’t too bad. Everyone was curious about what had happened on their quest to find ‘the superior’, who turned out to be a Russian named Ivanov.

“So what happened?”, Daisy asked, leaning against the wall with Robbie next to her, who seemed as eager to know the full story.

A pretty exhausted Elena exhaled audibly. “Yeah well, there’s a full mission report for the details, but the gist of it is that the man behind all of the Watchdogs, and why they were spreading with seemingly bottomless funds, was because this Russian Ivanov had been funding all of it. 

He had ties from Nadeer to Axel, and even beyond them. We managed to sneak into his compound. The security was easy, but he was not. Managed to hurt him pretty bad, Mack got knocked unconscious, but when I thought I had him he jumped out of the window and we found him dead.”

Robbie grabbed Daisy’s hand and looked into her eyes for a second, after months of being hunted down, kidnappings and having to hide from the Watchdogs it seemed like it was finally over. Of course he wasn’t naïve, it wouldn’t be the end all of it, but without the extensive funds and without direction, the Watchdogs were doomed to fall back into the shadows and live as scattered hate groups. Nothing like the threat they were.

Daisy exhaled, blinking a few times, “Can’t believe it’s over. Thank you so much, you guys, everyone.”

Jemma pressed a clean bandage onto Mack’s head wound and made sure it was secure, before giving him a slight push so he’d know she was done. “Elena?”, she said. Elena initially declined medical help but Jemma was having none of it and traded places with Mack.

The agents all nodded, and Mack cleared his throat, “So… where’s the baby?”

Elena chuckled and rolled her eyes, “This one hasn’t been able to talk about anything else on our way back than meeting your daughter.”

Mack shrugged, “What? I just love babies, okay?”

“No, no, I know, it’s cute,” Elena appeased him, rubbing his arm.

Daisy smiled and gestured behind them, “Coulson is holding her.”

They turned around and were met with Coulson holding Izzy in his arms, very much smitten with the little baby as he walked over to them.

Mack’s eyes lit up, “So, this is Isadora?” he practically gasped.

Coulson looked to Daisy and Robbie for a second, as if he was asking permission but they just smiled at him and he grinned, “Yes, this is Izzy May.”

“May, huh?” Elena said, raising her eyebrow at the baby’s namesake. May was standing with her arms crossed but a small proud smile on her face.

“Can I hold her?”, Mack asked both Robbie and Daisy.

“Of course!”, Daisy replied with a smile, loving that the final two members of their team were finally able to meet her baby. 

Coulson carefully handed Izzy over, who didn’t seemed to be bothered one bit by being passed around and settled into Mack’s embrace. Everyone on the team smiled or chuckled, watching the tiny baby looking minisicule in Mack’s big arms. Izzy was already a small baby, being born prematurely, but cradled in his arms she seemed even tinier. Mack was immediately enthralled with the baby, putting his face close to the baby and making funny faces. Izzy looked at him with her big eyes and frowned, trying to focus her eyes.

Elena smiled, feeling like she got a small glimpse of what her future was going to look like, while Jemma was disinfecting the multiple slashes on her arms. Ivanov had been wielding knives, and she ended up rolling through broken glass, so her arms were in dire need of some care. 

Eventually, she was able to tear her eyes away from the scene and back to the proud looking parents. “So no Ghost Rider anymore, huh?”, she inquired with her raspy voice, and stared at Robbie’s painful looking bruise around his eye. 

Robbie shook his head, “Ghost Rider lives on pain, darkness, vengeance… But I wasn’t that person anymore, I had already felt his powers dwindling so when I came close to Axel he must’ve found a better host. I lost consciousness,”

“And woke up a mortal!”, Daisy concluded with a warm smile at her boyfriend, who reached out his hand to her. She interlaced her fingers with his and nodded. “It’s just us three now”, he said, with his gaze on their small child in Mack’s gentle hands.

“You guys...” Jemma said with tears in her eyes, while putting the final bandaid on Elena’s arm.

Coulson, May and Mack gathered round the couple, and Daisy swallowed. She’d miss this, but it was time to go home. As if he read her mind, Coulson suggested softly “So now all if safe... isn’t it time for you guys to go back home?”

The lump in her throat made it hard for Daisy to speak, so all she squeezed out was “but you guys are my home...” 

Coulson put his hand on her arm. “We’ll always be here for you, Daisy, but you built a life, and it is more than okay to want that life...”

May nodded in agreement. “A base is no place for a growing baby, no matter how much we all wish she could stay here forever.”

With a sigh, Daisy smiled and looked around gratefully. “Then I think it’s time.”

Robbie looked at her, still too pale for her liking and raised his non-bruised eyebrow. 

“We’re going home?”

“We’re going home.”

* * *

The motion of the drive home had lulled both mother and daughter to sleep, and Robbie parked the car in front of the house as carefully as he could.

He looked over his shoulder at their daughter, whose small round face was fully relaxed while snoozing in the carseat. Seeing her in his own car, with the pink beanie he picked out for her, made it feel a hundred times more real, and he felt humbled and grateful.

He rested his tired head against the head rest and considered joining the two in a car-nap, but decided against it when he saw movement behind the kitchen window.

Alarmed, he quickly exited the car, ignoring the throbbing in his eyebrow, ready to protect his little family, when a familiar hand waved at him. 

It was Gabe! 

Robbie opened the front door and rushed in. “Bro! You have no idea how good it is to see your face!”, he exclaimed, and pulled him in for a hug. 

“Welcome home, papi!”, Gabe grinned, and wheeled to the living room. “I hope you like what I did with the place?”

Robbie followed him in and gasped at the amount of pink balloons and bunting hanging from nearly every piece of furniture. 

“I realize it’s a bit much...” Gabe chuckled, seeing it now through Robbie’s eyes. “But how often does one become uncle?”

Robbie grinned and shook his head. “It’s great, I’m sure Daisy will love it.”

“Oh wait, Daisy!”, he suddenly remembered his sleeping girlfriend in the abandoned car out front. He ran outside, only to hear a soft snoring coming from the rolled down window. Gently, he nudged Daisy’s shoulder. “Wake up,  dormilona ... We’re home!”

With a pleasant yawn and stretch, Daisy awoke, and cupped his face with her hand. 

“Thanks for letting me sleep.”

Gingerly, she got out of the car, firmly holding onto Robbie’s hand, her body being sore but better than the day before. 

For a moment, they stared at their peacefully sleeping baby. 

“So what do we do...”, Daisy wondered.

“What do you mean?”

“Are we supposed to wake her? Or wait here until she wakes up? What does the baby book say?”

Robbie, equally sleep deprived, was stumped and helplessly pulled out his phone to look it up. Luckily, Izzy solved the problem for them by stirring and kicking out her little feet. 

“Hey, baby, welcome home”, Daisy cooed immediately, and unbuckled their daughter. 

Gabe sat in his chair in the door opening and smiled when he caught the first glimpse of his niece. “Welcome home, Daisy!”, he said, straining his neck to see more of the baby in her arms. 

“Let’s go inside,” Daisy suggested with a smile when she saw his eager eyes, “and you can hold her all you want while we make up her bed and everything.”

“I already did all of that”, Gabe confessed proudly, and rolled into the living room. “I put diapers on the dressing table and everything...”

“Oh, thank you, Gabe,” Daisy exclaimed and carefully handed the sleepy bundle to her uncle. “Gabriel, meet Isadora May Reyes, or Izzy.”

Gabe took the baby in his arms like she was the most precious treasure, and held her up to his face. “Nice to meet you, tiny one”, he whispered, and smiled at her curious brown eyes. Her cap fell off and revealed the soft black tuft of hair, making Gabe gasp. “She really is adorable, isn’t she?”, he said, looking up at his brother, who wrapped his arms around Daisy. 

The parents nodded. “We catch ourselves just staring at her when she sleeps,” Robbie chuckled. Gabe smiled, “I can imagine. How do you get anything done?”

“We really don’t,” Daisy smirked, and added with an exhale “And I need to sit down.”

Among the many pastel pink balloons and crêpe paper streamers, Daisy sank down on the purple chair by the window, the same chair she used to read the baby book in, and she felt at home. Her eyes wandered over the many decorations, what looked like a home baked cake on the coffee table, Gabe holding Izzy in one arm and rocking the wheelchair back and forth with the other, Robbie bringing in their bags, the play pen in the corner with a few stuffed animals, and it brought tears to her eyes. 

“It’s good to be home”, she sighed. Robbie bent down to kiss her, before taking their bags upstairs. Gabe brought her Izzy when the baby started to root around. “I think someone’s hungry,” he said with a shy smile.

“I’ll take her upstairs”, Daisy nodded at him, and wrapped Izzy over her shoulder. 

“You can use my chair lift if you want”, Gabe offered awkwardly when he saw her hiss in pain when getting up. 

“I think I’ll manage, but thank you”, Daisy said with a smile. Slowly, she climbed the stairs, and walked past the bathroom she had been sick so many times in the earlier days of the pregnancy. Being back here, but with their child this time, was equally comforting as it was unreal. With the kidnapping, the violence, the birth and everything now behind them, it was like she could finally breathe again. 

“Robbie?”

“In the nursery.”

With Izzy now crying on top of her lungs, Daisy walked into the nursery and sat down on the rocking chair. Quickly, she moved up her stretchy clothes to feed the hungry baby, and sighed in relief when the wailing made place for silent suckling sounds. She brushed her finger over the soft fist and leaned her head back. 

It was then, that she noticed Robbie watching them with shiny eyes, leaning against the dressing table with the bunny plushie in his hand. 

“Hey,” she said with a tired smile.

“Hey,” he replied and sat down on the soft carpet.

For a peaceful thirty minutes, they sat in the nursery, enjoying the soft grunts and drinking sounds from the baby at her breast, and the lack of urgency to do anything else. 

After a loud burp for such a tiny person, Izzy fell asleep. Robbie took her and pulled Daisy up from the rocking chair. Careful to not wake her, Robbie took off the baby’s socks and onesie, and replaced them with clean ones. Daisy rested her cheek against his shoulder and sighed. 

Robbie transferred Izzy to the crib, and tucked her in. The baby stretched her legs and pulled them back into her body, sleeping tightly and contently. 

A soft kiss landed on Daisy’s temple when Robbie pulled her closer. “I know I keep saying this, but thank you”, he whispered. 

“You’re welcome, silly,” Daisy responded with her eyes closed, leaning into his warm body.

* * *

When her hand found nothing but a cool pillow next to her, Daisy opened her eyes. It was five thirty in the morning, the bedside alarm clock reported, and Robbie wasn’t here. Curious, Daisy got out of bed, and walked to the nursery, the only place in the house where a sliver of light told her people were awake.

Gently, she pushed the door open, and was met with a shirtless Robbie. His warm skin was glowing in the soft nightlight, and his muscular arms held Izzy close to his chest. Izzy, clinging to him like a monkey with her arms curled in, was only wearing a diaper and her socks, and seemed to breathe in his embrace. 

“She wouldn’t stop crying,” Robbie whispered nearly inaudible, “so I tried skin to skin, and she loves it!” 

He grinned proudly, swaying back and forth, and he opened one arm to invite Daisy in. Daisy took the blanket from the crib, wrapped it around his bare shoulders and their baby’s back, and snuggled up against them as they swayed.

Daisy looked up to the father of her baby, and gazed into his loving eyes. His lips found hers in a kiss, and he wrapped the blanket around the three of them.

“I love you, Robbie Reyes.”

“I love you too, Daisy... Johnson-Reyes?”

Sleepily, Daisy chuckled, and with her hand on Izzy’s small back, she said “ask me again tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you like the ending to this story, I sure did! Couldn't have done it without Wlammy <3 let me know if u liked it!
> 
> You can follow me on tumblr.com/marvelsquake if u like!


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